^J  J.. 


K„y 


/'-""-■ 


..„/  V 


A   1\  T"ti 


:i::FAR.C)Li)  ]:)o:raidson  eber: 


/?!!?"»'>«» 


wm 


v\. 


■I:ll- 


VILLAS  OF  FLORENCE 
AND  TUSCANY 


THE 

PRACTICAL  BOOKS 

OF    HUME    LIFE    ENRICHMENT 

EACH    PROFUSELY'  I  L  L  U  S- 
TRATED,  UASUSOMELY  BOU.XD. 

Octavo,     Cloth.     In  (I  shp  cose. 

THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK 
OF  PERIOD  FURNITURE 

By  HAROLD  DONALDSON  EBERLEIN 

AND  ABBOT  AkCLURE 

New  Edition 

THE    PRACTICAL    BOOK 

OF    EARLY    AMERICAN 

ARTS  AND  CRAFTS 

By  HAROLD  DONALDSON  EBERLEIN 
AND  ABBOT  McCLURE 

THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF 
INTERIOR  DECORATION 

By 

EBERLEIN,  McCLURE  and  HOLLOWAY 

New  Edition 

THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF 
FURNISHING  THE  SMALL 
HOUSE    AND   APARTMENT 

By  EDWARD  STRATTON  HOLLOWAY 

THE    PRACTICAL    BOOK 
OF  ARCHITECTURE 

By  C.  MATLACK  PRICE 

THE    PRACTICAL    BOOK 
OF  ORIENTAL  RUGS 

By  DR.  G.  GRIFFIN  LEWIS 
New  Edition.  Revised  and  Enlarged 

THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF 
GARDEN   ARCHITECTURE 

By  PHEBE  WESTCOTT   HUMPHREYS 

THE  PRACTICAL  BOOK  OF 
OUTDOOR  ROSE  GROWING 

By  GEORGE  C.  THO^L^S,  Jr. 

New  EniTioN',  Revised  and  Enlarged 


tA»'l    WALK    IN   GARDEN — ClGLiANO.   SAN  CASCIANO.   \  AL  Dl   I'EsA 
From  a  painting  by  Edward  Stration  Holloway 


»>AW 


■jjBBBrimiWWWJii'ir.H«idWi).m<JUi)iH.UI<;r 


.li^ 


JJU'^^L^-,.^-W  .  -  —  ^ 


VILLAS   OF    FLORENCE 
AND  TUSCANY 


BY 

HAROLD  DONALDSON  EBERLEIN 

JOINT   AUTHOR    OF   THE    PRACTICAL    BOOKS   OF 

"INTERIOR    DECORATION""     "PERIOD    FURNITURE", 

AND      "AMERICAN   ARTS  AND    CRAFTS*' 


WITH  A   FRONTISPIECE  IN  COLOUR   AND 

^9!)  ILLUSTRATIONS  MOSTLY  FROM 

PHOTOGRAPHS  BY  THE  AUTHOR 


'     h     i 


A 


PHILADELPHIA    y    LONDON 
J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK 
THE  ARCHITECTURAL  RECORD  COMPANY 

1923 


'.^"Ja~, 


COPYRI<;HT,    1920,    I92I,    1922,   BY  THE  ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD  COMPANY 
COPYRIGHT,    1922,   BY  ].   B.   LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 


PRINTED  BY  J.    B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 

AT  THE  WASHINGTON  SQUARE  PRESS 

PHILADELPHIA,  U.  S.  A. 


ARTS 


MYBELOVED  MOTHER.  HESTER  ANN  THE  GE  N  TILISSI  M  A  M  ARCH  E  SA 

CROOK  EBERLEIX.  DESPITE  HER  FOURSCORE  ELEONORA  ANTiNORl-CORSIM.  whose 

AND  EIGHT  YEARS.    THE  DEAR  COMPANION  OF  MY  KINDLY       OFFICES.      INFAILING     INTEREST       AND 

TRAVELS  IN  A  CHERISHED  LAND.  READY  ENCOURAGEMENT  HAVE  PAVED  THE  WAV 

FOR  MY  LABOURS 

THIS  VOLUME  IS  DEDICATED  AS  A  TRIBUTE  TO 
THE  STERLING  WORTH  OF  THAT  RARE  TYPE  OF 
GENTLEWOMANHOOD  SO  FAITHFULLY  EXEMPLI- 
FIED BY  THESE  TWO  LADIES  OF  A  PATTERN  ALL 
TOO  RAPIDLY  DISAPPEARING 


FOREWORD 


USCANY  has  poured  forth  a  stream  of 
beauty  and  charm  that  has  had  a 
marked  effect  upon  modern  life  within 
the  past  fifteen  or  twenty  years.  This 
gracious  influence  has  affected  not  only 
architecture  and  interior  decoration, 
but  in  a  sense  it  has  helped  to  free  us 
from  an  element  in  our  cultural  tradition  that  was  rapidly 
becoming  academic  and  stilted.  The  fresh  impulse  emanat- 
ing from  Tuscany  appeals  specifically  both  to  the  architect 
and  to  the  person  minded  to  build  a  new  abode,  and  also  in 
a  more  general  way  to  all  that  love  beauty  for  its  own  sake 
and  would  gladly  have  a  share  in  the  best  things  of  art  for 
the  joyaunce  of  themselves  and  their  friends.  The  public, 
therefore,  have  eagerly  welcomed  this  new  infusion  of 
Italian  influence. 

Without  a  knowledge  of  the  unsung  loveliness  of  Tuscan 
rural  life  and  the  spirit  of  Tuscany,  one  cannot  hope  to  have 
an  adequate  and  sympathetic  understanding  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance,  that  marvellous  efflorescence  of  Italian  genius 
to  which  our  modern  civilisation  is  debtor  in  countless  ways. 
Only  the  larger  and  more  celebrated  villas  are  familiar 
to  most  of  us.  Hence  we  are  apt  to  think  of  all  villas  as 
imposing  in  size  of  structure  and  area  of  demesne.  Actual 
facts,  however  do  not  bear  out  such  a  conception.  Hundreds 
of  villas  are  of  modest  extent  and  unpretentious  structure. 
Not  a  few  are  really  small. 

The  average  visitor  to  Florence  and  other  parts  of 
Tuscany  sees  the  stock  sights  and  a  few  of  the  surrounding 
villas  that  are  admittedly  "  shew  places,"  to  which  access 
may  be  more  or  less  readily  obtained.  After  viewing  these 
he  goes  away,  little  dreaming  of  the  many  delights  hidden 
behind  the  high  walls  that  line  the  roads  he  has  traversed  in 
his  comings  and  goings.  Consequently  he  has  no  full  per- 
ception of  the  character  of  Tuscan  domestic  architecture, 

7 


8  FOREWORD 

and  the  majority  of  the  villas,  the  gardens,  and  the  manner 
of  life  lived  therein,  are  almost  as  much  of  a  "  sealed  book.  " 
to  him  as  though  each  gate  were  guarded  by  cherubim  with 
flaming  swords  to  bar  his  ingress. 

There  is  no  intention  to  derogate  one  jot  from  the  claims 
of  the  "shew"  villas;  they  are  wonderful  places  replete 
with  every  grace  and  beauty,  and  well  deserve  all  the  admi- 
ration and  praise  they  usually  receive.  But  the  other  villas, 
and  especially  the  smaller  villas,  where  a  more  intimate 
character  has  been  preserved,  afford  an  invaluable  index  to 
the  very  heart  of  Tuscany.  Toward  these  attention  is  par- 
ticularly directed.  It  is  the  joy  of  these  that  the  author 
hopes  to  share  with  the  reader,  as  well  as  the  beauties  of  a 
few  of  the  larger  and  more  famous  places. 

One  must  understand  in  some  measure  the  character  of 
the  less  known  estates,  that  constitute  a  preponderant  ele- 
ment of  Tuscan  country  life,  in  order  to  gain  a  ripe 
appreciation  of  even  the  physical  quality  of  that  wondrously 
beautiful  land — a  land  of  steep  wooded  hills  and  fertile 
valleys;  of  sombre  cypresses  and  pines  and  ilex  trees;  of 
turreted  castles  perched  on  rocky  peaks;  of  old  walled  towns 
glistering  white  against  the  liquid  blue  and  purple  haze  of 
distant  mountains;  of  skies  of  limpid  brilliance;  of  smiling 
slopes  clad  with  vines  and  olive  groves;  of  far-flung  pros- 
pects all  surcharged  with  that  elusive,  idyllic  tenderness  that 
the  primitive  painters  caught  and  imprisoned  in  their 
landscape  backgrounds. 

In  speaking  of  a  "  villa  "  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  term  applies  not  only  to  the  dwelling  itself  but  to  the 
surrounding  grounds  as  well,  and  also  includes  the  sundry 
subsidiary  buildings.  In  other  words,  the  villa,  whether  of 
little  or  great  extent,  is  a  complete  entity  and  wholly  self- 
contained  in  its  completeness.  It  is  the  home  of  the  master 
and  his  family;  it  is  also  the  home  of  his  dependents,  and 
there  is  all  necessary  provision  for  the  various  farming 
operations,  including  the  making  and  storing  of  oil  and 
wine.     This   self-reliant  completeness   of   each   villa,    this 


FOREWORD  9 

sturdy  dependence  upon  its  own  rcs(jurces,  is  characteristic 
of  the  country  and  imparts  a  peculiarly  individual  tone 
to  the  whole  scheme  of  rural  life  scarcely  to  be  paral- 
lelled elsewhere. 

If  the  best  results  are  to  be  derived  from  our  examina- 
tion of  Tuscan  country  houses,  it  is  highly  important  that 
we  possess  information  as  full  and  accurate  as  possible  con- 
cerning each  one  that  comes  within  our  purview.  To  com- 
pass that  end,  therefore,  it  has  seemed  advisable  to  present  a 
certain  number  of  representative  villas,  thoroughly  consid- 
ered in  all  their  characteristic  details,  rather  than  to  give  one 
or  two  fleeting,  random  glimpses  of  this,  that  or  the  other 
place,  skipping  hastily  from  spot  to  spot,  without  following 
any  coherent  or  systematic  scheme.  By  supplying,  in  the 
case  of  each  villa  discussed,  a  complete  illustrative  record 
from  every  significant  point  of  view,  along  with  such  brief 
elucidating  text  as  may  be  necessary,  the  reader  will  gain  a 
far  more  satisfactory  insight  into  the  subject  than  could 
possibly  result  from  the  cursory  survey  of  incidental  views 
chosen  from  a  wider  range.  This  method,  so  far  as  the  writer 
is  aware,  has  never  hitherto  been  pursued.  It  will  doubtless 
prove  more  welcome  than  the  tantalising  and  inconclusive 
hop,  skip  and  jump  method. 

The  obvious  advantage  to  commend  this  course  is  that 
in  no  case  are  numerous  architectural  questions  left  wholly 
unanswered.  Having  seen  one  side  of  a  villa,  the  reader  is  not 
incontinently  left  to  guess  what  may  be  on  the  other,  with  a 
strong  likelihood  that  the  side  not  shewn  might  disclose  items 
of  even  greater  interest  or  value  to  him.  In  this  way,  there- 
fore, by  confining  investigation  to  a  given  number  of  villas, 
thoroughly  representative  of  their  several  types,  a  compre- 
hensive grasp  of  the  subject  will  be  reached,  in  the  light  of 
which  architect  and  client  with  full  understanding  may  draw 
whatever  lessons  are  to  be  learned  and  make  such  applica- 
tions as  seem  good  to  them,  while  the  general  reader  will 
have  the  satisfaction  of  a  well-rounded  conception. 

The  villas  of  Tuscany  are  not  all  of  a  common  pattern, 


lo  FOREWORD 

although  all  exhibit  certain  particulars  of  strong  family 
resemblance  that  stamp  them  as  unmistakably  Tuscan  and 
completely  differentiate  them  from  the  rural  domestic  estab- 
lishments to  be  found  in  other  parts  of  Italy.  There  are 
local  differences  to  be  observed  between  the  villas  round 
about  Florence  and  the  villas  round  about  Siena.  Again, 
those  about  Lucca  differ  from  both  the  former.  And  so  it 
goes.  There  are  also  differences,  as  is  to  be  expected, 
between  the  villas  of  one  age  and  those  of  another. 
The  villas  of  the  Baroque  seventeenth  century  manifest 
certain  characteristics  quite  distinct  from  those  of  the 
sixteenth  or  fifteenth.  Even  amongst  those  of  one  period, 
one  locality,  and  one  generally  prevalent  type,  occur 
engaging  nuances  of  individuality  that  sustain  the  elements 
of  interest  and  surprise,  no  matter  how  many  of  them  one 
may  visit.  Monotony  is  a  thing  unknown.  These  diversities 
will  appear  and  receive  comment  in  due  course  as  the  reader 
advances  through  the  book. 

In  studying  these  villas  one  must  not  forget  that  it  is 
important  to  heed  the  gardens  as  well  as  the  houses,  for  the 
former  are  inseparably  associated  with  the  latter,  and  each 
without  the  other  would  fail  of  the  essential  charm  inherent 
in  the  whole  ensemble.  The  manner  of  furnishing,  too,  and 
all  the  processes  of  domestic  management  contribute  their 
share  to  our  appreciative  enlightenment  and  our  compre- 
hensive conception  of  the  leisurely  and  dignified  though 
simple  mode  of  existence  of  which  the  villas  are  the  out- 
ward embodiment. 

The  exteriors,  especially  where  the  house  itself  stands 
on  or  near  the  highway,  are  reticent  in  aspect,  but  that  reti- 
cence is  pierced  and  the  real  character  becomes  apparent 
once  the  visitor  finds  himself  within. 

If  the  reader  is  enabled  to  apprehend  some  of  the  subtle 
charm  with  which  the  villas  of  Florence  and  Tuscany  are 
informed,  if  he  is  enabled  to  discern  some  measure  of  the 
excellences  they  reveal  upon  close  acquaintance,  so  that  he 


FOREWORD  1 1 

may  apply  to  his  own  behoof  the  lessons  thence  derived,  the 
purpose  of  this  book  will  be  achieved. 

In  conclusion  the  author  desires  to  acknowledge  his 
gratitude  and  obligations  to  his  friends,  Charles  Eyre,  Esq., 
whose  cordial  assistance  and  unfailing  advice  laid  the 
foundations  of  this  volume;  the  Marchesa  Eleonora 
Antinori-Corsini,  whose  kind  interest  and  ready  help  have 
been  of  incalculable  value  in  endless  ways;  the  Principe 
Andrea  Corsini  and  Donna  Anna  de'  Marchesi  Antinori, 
whose  advice  and  aid  have  been  joined  also  to  the  innu- 
merable courtesies  of  the  Marchesa  Antinori  and  Mr. 
Eyre;  Signor  and  Signora  Riccardo  Daddi-Borgheri ; 
Signor  and  Signora  Guido  Colucci;  Arthur  Acton,  Esq.; 
Signor  and  Signora  Delfino  Cinelli ;  Doctor  G.  B.  Roatta ; 
Cecil  Pinsent,  Esq.;  Robert  B.  C.  M.  Carrere,  Esq;  Doctor 
Guido  Biagi,  Oliver  Reagan,  Esq.;  and  Miss  Ada  M.  Clark. 

The  author  wishes  likewise  to  record  his  appreciation  of 
sundry  courtesies  extended  by  the  Princess  Aldobrandini, 
the  Marchesa  Chigi,  the  Duchessa  di  Bomarzo,  the 
Contessa  Parravicino,  the  Conte  Rasponi,  the  Conte 
Giulio  Guicciardini,  and  Dr.  Poggi  of  the  Uffizi  Galleries. 

To  his  friends  Newton  P.  Bevin,  Esq.,  for  the  title  page 
design,  and  William  Hough,  Esq.,  for  the  use  of  some  of  the 
plans  which  stress  of  time  prevented  him  from  securing,  he 
is  under  deep  obligations. 

Last,  though  not  least,  he  thanks  Livio  and  Sandro,  whose 
skillful  driving  and  help  with  the  camera  facilitated  the 
labour  of  making  the  photographs ;  Umberto,  Dino,  good  old 
Domenico,  and  all  the  humble  nameless  folk  whose 
thousand  little  acts  of  courtesy  and  consideration  made  the 
collection  of  the  material  herein  contained  a  pleasure; 
Signor  Piancastelli  of  Florence,  Mr.  Percival  and  Mr. 
Cooper  of  London,  and  Mr.  Wallace  of  Philadelphia  for 
their  care  in  developing  and  printing  negatives  that  were 


12  FOREWORD 

often  far  from  perfect;  and  finally  his  friends  E.  S. 
Holloway,  Esq.,  of  the  J.  B.  Lippincott  Co.,  who  painted  the 
frontispiece,  and  M.  A.  Mikkelsen,  Esq.,  of  the  Architectural 
Record,  along  with  the  respective  stafifs  of  the  J.  B. 
Lippincott  Co.  and  the  Architectural  Record. 
Philadelphia 
Whitsuntide,  1922  H.  D.  E. 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Foreword 7 

Chapter       I.  The    Tuscan     Villa     Before     The 

Sixteenth    Century 23 

Chapter     II.  The  Tuscan  Villa  Of  The  Sixteenth 

Century 35 

Chapter  III.  The  Tuscan    Villa   Of  The    Seven- 
teenth Century 45 

Chapter    IV.  Decoration  And  Furnishing 55 

Chapter      V.  Gardens  Early  And  Late 67 

VILLAS 

CiGLiANO,  San  Casciano,  Val  Di  Pesa 81 

II  Giojello  (Villa  Galileo),  Pian  De'Giullari.  . .  99 

L'Ombrellino,  Pian  De'Giullari 113 

Villa  Pazzi  (La  Vacchia),  Pian  De'Giullari 121 

II  Frullino,  San  Gervasio,  near  Florence 14^ 

Villa  Capponi,  Arcetri 155 

The    Villetta,    Villa    Palmieri,    San    Domenico, 

near   Florence 1 77 

Villa  Celsa,  near  Siena ig- 

II  Trebbio,  in  the  Mugello 205 

Cafaggiuolo,  in  the  Mugello 211 

PoGGio  A  Cajano 223 

Le  Corti,  San  Casciano,  Val  Di  Pesa 237 

Villa  Dei  Collazzi,  Tavarnuzze,   near  Florence.  253 

Belcaro,   near  Siena 269 

ViCOBELLO,     NEAR    SlENA 285 

Villa  Del  Arcivescovo,   near  Lucca 297 

PoGGio  Torselli,  near  San  Casciano,  Val  Di  Pesa  307 

La  PiETRA,  II  Pellegrino,   near  Florence 323 

Villa  Palmieri,  San  Domenico,   near  Florence.  . .  343 

Cetinale,   near  Siena 367 

Le  Maschere,  in  the  Mugello 377 

Villa  Garzoni,  at  Collodi,   near  Pescia 385 

Villa  Corsi-Salviati  (GuicciARDiNi),  at  Sesto....  399 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

East  \Valk  in  Garden,  Cigliano   (Color  plate)    Fronthpkce 

Wayside   Chapel,   near   Torre   del    Gallo    page  31 

Acquaio  or  Lavabo  in  Dining  Room,  La  Pietra    page  31 

Fifteenth  Century   Staircase,   Villa  CoUetta    page  32 

Fifteenth  Century  Fireplace,  Villa  Colletta    page  32 

Seventeenth  Century  Wall   Painting  in  manner  of   Berain,   La 

Pietra    page  5 1 

Seventeenth   Century   Fireplace,    Villa   Sassetti    page  51 

Seventeenth  Century  Pair  of  Doors page  52 

Fourteenth      Century      Geometrical      Wall      Painting,      \'illa 

Palmieri    page   57 

Early  Fifteenth  Century  Credenza,  La  Pietra   page  57 

Fourteenth  Century  Wall  Painting,  Museum  of  San  Marco   ..page  58 

Geometrical  Garden  Plan,   from  Serlio    page  58 

Early  Renaissance  Garden,  Painting,  School  of  Botticelli page   71 

"Barrel-topped"  Pergola,   from  Hypnerotomachia  Poliphili    ....page  71 

Fountain   of  Venus,  Villa  Petraia    page  72 

Fountain  by  Verocchio  and  Tadda,   Palazzo  Vecchio    page  72 

Early    Renaissance    Walled    Garden,    from    Biblioteca    Estense, 

Modena    page  75 

Early    Renaissance    Walled    Garden,    from    Pietro    Crescenzi's 

"Agricoltura" page  75 

Seventeenth     Century     Fountain     and     Steps,     Villa     Corsini, 

Castello    page  76 

Geometrical  Garden  Plan,  from  Hypnerotomachia  Poliphili  .  .  .  .page  76 

VILLAS 

Cigliano,  San  Casciano,  Val  di  Pesa 

Plate      I,  Ground  Floor  Plan page  83 

Plate     2,    North   Front    page  84 

Plate     3,  North    Front    page  85 

Plate     4,  Portone     page  86 

Plate     5,  Loggia  in   Cortile    page  87 

Plate     6,  Window  in  Loggia    page  88 

Plate     7,   Entrance   Hall,    from   Cortile    page  89 

Plate     8,  Well  Head  in  Cortile page  90 

Plate     9,   South  Front  and  Garden page  91 

Plate   10,  Detail  of  South  Front  and  Garden  Door page  92 

Plate    1 1 ,  Garden  Gate,  end  of  East  Walk page  93 

Plate   12,  Gate  into  Garden    page  94 

Plate   13,  Fountain  in  Wall  of  Lemon  House page  95 

'5 


1 6  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Plate   14,  Pool  and  Lemon  House page  96 

Plate   15,  West  Side page  97 

II  Giojello  (Villa  Galileo),  Pian  de'  Giullari 

Plate   16,  Ground  Floor  and  Garden  Plan page  103 

Plate   17,  Road  Front  and  Entrance page  104 

Plate    18,   Approach    from   Garden   to   Cortile    page  105 

Plate   19,  Gate  from  Garden  into  Cortile page  106 

Plate  20,  Cortile  and  Southeast  Wing page  107 

Plate  21,  Well   Head   in   Cortile    page  108 

Plate  22,  Cortile  and  Northwest  Wing   page  109 

Plate  23,  West  Terrace,  Looking  North page  1 10 

Plate  24,   North  Side   page  1 1 1 

L'Ombrellino,  Pian  de'  Giullari 

Plate  25,  Ground   Floor   Plan    page  1 15 

Plate  26,  Northeast    Front    page  1 16 

Plate  27,   Southwest  End   and   Entrance    page  117 

Plate  28,  The  Cortile    page  118 

Plate  29,  Garden  Door   page  1 19 

Plate  30,  Within  the  Cortile page  120 

Villa  Pazzi  (La  Vacchia),  Pian  de'  Giullari 

Plate  31,  Ground  Floor  and  Garden  Plan   page  125 

Plate  32,  Gateway    and    Chapel    page  126 

Plate  32,  Chapel,  and  Cypress  Walk  to  Podere page  127 

Plate  34,  North  Front,  from  Gate    page  128 

Plate  35,  North    Front    page  129 

Plate  36,  North    Front    page  130 

Plate  37,  House    Door    page  131 

Plate  38,  Doorway  in  Salone page  132 

Plate  39,   Salone    page  133 

Plate  40,  Music   Room    page  134 

Plate  41,  Music   Room    page  135 

Plate  42,  Windows   in    Music   Room    page  136 

Plate  43,  Detail,   South  Front    page  137 

Plate  44,  South    Front    and    Terrace    page  138 

Plate  45,  South   Front   from    Garden    page  139 

Plate  46,  Garden  Gate    page  140 

Plate  47,  Little  Walled  Garden    page  141 

Plate  48,   Kitchen   Cortile    page  142 

II  Frullino,  San  Gervasio,  near  Florence 

Plate  49,  Ground   Floor   Plan    page  145 

Plate  50,  Entrance    page  146 

Plate  51,  South    Front    page  147 

Plate  52,   South   Front    from   Garden    page  148 

Plate  53,  North    Front    page  149 


ILLUSTRATIONS  17 

Plate  54,   Salone    page  1 50 

Plate   55,   Door   within   Loggia    page  151 

Plate  5b,  Loggia  Arcade  in  Cortile    p:'ge  152 

Plate  57,  Well   Head   in  Cortile    page  153 

Plate   58,   East   Side  of  Cortile    page  154 

Villa  Capponi,  Arcetri 

Plate   59,   Ground    Floor   and    Garden    Plans    page    157 

Plate  60,  Lane  Leading  down  to  Villa  Capponi page   158 

Plate  61,  Lane  Leading  up  to  Y'tW^i  Capponi   page   159 

Plate  62,   Entrance    Hall     page   160 

Plate  63,   Hallway,  looking  towards  Entrance page   161 

Plate  64,  Crossarm  of   Hall    page   162 

Plate  65,   Salone    page   163 

Plate  66,  Fireplace    in    Salone    page   164 

Plate  67,  End    of    Salone    page   165 

Plate  68,   Morning  Room    page   166 

Plate  69,  Dining  Room page   167 

Plate  70,  Garden  Front page   168 

Plate  71,  Garden   Front   from   Box  Pleasaunce    page   169 

Plate   72,  Loggia  in  Garden    page    1 70 

Plate   73,  Box    Pleasaunce    page   1 7 1 

Plate  74,  Gateway  to  Box  Pleasaunce page   1 72 

Plate  75,   Middle  Garden    page   1 73 

Plate  76,   End    Wall,    Middle    Garden    page  174 

Plate  77,  Lower  Garden  and   Pool    page   175 

Plate  78,  Postern  Gate  in  Lower  Garden    page   176 

The  Villetta,  Villa  Palmicri,  San  Domenico,  near  Florence 

Plate  79,  Ground   Floor   and   Garden   Plans    page   181 

Plate  80,   South  and  West  Fronts page   182 

Plate  8 1 ,   Entrance    page   1 83 

Plate  82,  Portone  Detail   page   184 

Plate   83,   South  Front  and  Box  Pleasaunce page    185 

Plate  84,  Well  Head  in  Box  Pleasaunce page   186 

Plate   85,   ^V^est   Front   and   Threshing   Floor    page    187 

Plate  86,  Postern  Gate  in  Walled  Garden page   187 

Plate  87,  Loggia  and  Cortile page   188 

Plate  88,   Fragment    of    Fourteenth    Century    Fresco    in 

Ground    floor  Loggia    page   i8g 

Plate  89,   Fifteenth  Century  Armorial  Fresco  in  Loggia  .  .    page   189 

Plate  90,   Loggia,  Cortile,  and  Outside  Staircase page    190 

Plate  91,  Kitchen  and  Fireplace   page   191 

Plate  92,   First  Floor  Loggia page    192 

Plate  93,  First  Floor  Loggia  looking  into  Cortile    page   192 


i8  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Plate  94,   Part  uf  South  Front  and  Stable   page   193 

Plate  95,   House   Door   and    Box    Pleasaunce    page   194 

Villa  Celsa,  near  Siena 

Plate  96,  Plot    Plan    page   197 

Plate  97,  Entrance,  part  of  South  Front  and  Chapel  ....  page   198 

Plate  98,  South  Front,  Cortile  Screen  and  Garden    ....  page   199 

Plate  99,  Gateway   and   detail   of   Cortile   Screen    page  200 

Plate   100,  Chapel,  Designed  by  Baldassare  Peruzzi    ....  page  201 

Plate   loi,  Well  Head  in  Cortile page  202 

Plate   102,   East  and   North   Fronts    page  203 

II  Trebbio,  in  the  Mugello 

Plate   103,   Gateway      page  207 

Plate   104,  Entrance     page  208 

Plate   105,  The  Garden   page  208 

Plate   106,   Northeast   Angle    page  209 

Plate    107,   Cortile     page   210 

Cafaggiuolo,  in  the  Mugello 

Plate   108,  Castle  and  Garden  from  an  old  Painting  ....  page  215 

Plate   109,   Old  Print,  shewing  East  Front page  216 

Plate    1 10,   South    and   East   Fronts    page  217 

Plate   III,   East  Tower  and  Entrance   page  218 

Plate    1 12,   Portone      page  219 

Plate   1 13,   East   and    North   Fronts    page  220 

Plate   114,  Cortile    page  220 

Plate   115,   Salone    page  22 1 

Plate    I  16,   Dining    Room     page   222 

Poggio  a  Cajano 

Plate   117,  Palazzo   and  Ancient   Garden   Plans   from   an 

old  Painting page  227 

Plate   118,  South     Front      page  228 

Plate    119,   Stair   and   Terrace   Details,    South   Front    ....  page  229 

Plate    120,   Loggia,    South    Front    page  230 

Plate   121,  Within  the  Loggia,   South   Front    page  231 

Plate    122,   Terrace,   South   Front    page  232 

Plate   123,  East  Front,   from   Garden    page  232 

Plate   124,  Grotto,    under    North   Terrace    page  233 

Plate   125,  Great    Hall    page  234 

Plate   126,   Staircase,    Anteroom,    Apartments    of    Bianca 

Capella    page  235 

Plate   127,  Fireplace  in  Apartments  of  Bianca  Capella   .  .  page  235 

Le  Corti,  San  Casciano,  Val  di  Pesa 

Plate   128,   Plot  Plan    page  239 

Plate   129,  The  Gate    page  240 


ILLUSTRATIONS  19 

Plate   130,  East    Front    page  241 

Plate   131,  East   and   South    Fronts    page  242 

Plate   1J2,   South  and  West  Fronts    page  242 

Plate   133,   East  Portone  and  Northeast  Tower    page  243 

Plate   134,  North     Front     Page  243 

Plate   135,   North  Door    Page  244 

Plate    136,  Cortile     Page  245 

Plate   137,  Staircase  from  the  Cortile    page  246 

Plate   138,  Chapel  Door,  from  the  Ante-chapel    page  247 

Plate    139,   Chapel     Gallery      page   248 

Plate   140,  Chapel    Wall     page  249 

Plate   141,  Portrait   Gallery    Page  250 

Plate   142,   North  Gallery    page  251 

Plate   143,   Flower     Garden    page  252 

Villa  dei  Collazz.i,  Tavarnuzze,  near  Florence 

Plate    144,   Plan  of  Entrance page   255 

Plate   145,  Approach    to    Cortile    page  256 

Plate    146,   Entrance  to  Cortile    page   257 

Plate    147,   North     Front     page  258 

Plate   148,  North    Loggia    page  259 

Plate    149,   Southwest  Angle  of  Cortile page   260 

Plate   150,  Doorway  in  West  Wing page  261 

Plate   151,   Ground  and   First   Floor  Loggias    page  262 

Plate   152,   South  Loggia,  First  Floor    page  262 

Plate    153,   Detail,  First  Floor  Loggia,   North  Front    ....    page   263 
Plate    154,    Detail,    First    Floor    Loggia,    South    Front     ..    page  264 

Plate    1 55,   South  Front    page  265 

Plate    156,   Great    Hall     page  266 

Plate    157,   Fireplace    in    Great    Hall     page   267 

Belcaro,   near   Siena 

Plate   158,  Plot  Plan    page  273 

Plate   159,  Outer   Gate    page  274 

Plate   160,  West  Screen  of  Cortile  and  Outer  Court  ....    page  274 

Plate   161,   Entrance  through  West  Screen    page  275 

Plate   162,  Cortile,  from  Gate  in  West  Screen    page  275 

Plate   163,  Door  Detail,  West  Screen  of  Cortile    page  276 

Plate   164,  South    Front    and    Cortile    page  277 

Plate   165,  South  Side  of  Cortile   page  278 

Plate   166,   East    Screen   of    Cortile    page  278 

Plate    167,   Door  Detail,   South   Side  of  Cortile    page   279 

Plate   168,  Well  Head  in  East  Screen  of  Cortile page  280 

Plate    169,   South  and  P2ast  Fronts,  and  Walled  Garden   .  .    page   281 


20  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Plate   1 70,  Southwest  Angle    page  282 

Plate   171,  East    Front    and    Walk   on    Battlements    page  283 

Plate   172,   Belvedere  and  Walk  on  Battlements page  284 

Plate   173,  Cannon   Balls  and  Tablet   in   Wall    page  284 

Vicobello,   near   Siena 

Plate   174,  Plot  Plan    page  287 

Plate    175,  Well  Head  in  Cortile    page   288 

Plate    176,   Gateway  from  Cortile  into  Parterre    page   289 

Plate    177,  Terminal    Niche    in    Garden    page  290 

Plate   1 78,   South  Front    page  291 

Plate   1 79,  Chapel  and  South  Front   page  292 

Plate   180,   Belvedere,   Lower  Garden    page  292 

Plate   181,   Steps  from  Parterre  to  Lower  Garden   page  293 

Plate   182,  Walk    in    Lower    Garden    page  293 

Plate   183,  Garden  Stair  with  Espaliered  Trees page  294 

Plate    184,   Stair    from    Lower    Garden    to    Terrace    ....    page   295 
Villa  del  Arcivescovo,  near  Lucca 

Plate   185,   Plot  Plan    page  299 

Plate    1 86,  West   Front    page  300 

Plate   187,  Central  Pavilion,  West  Front page  301 

Plate   1 88,  East  Front   page  302 

Plate   189,  Loggia,  East  Front    page  303 

Plate   190,   Detail  of   Loggia,    East    Front    page  304 

Plate   191,  Detail  of  Windows page  304 

Plate   192,  Gateway  into   Podere    page  305 

Plate   193,  Gateway  into  Park   page  306 

Poggio  Torselli,  near  San  Casciano,  Val  di  Pesa 

Plate   194,  Ground  Floor  and  Garden  Plans page  309 

Plate   195,  Approach   through   Cypress   Viale    page  310 

Plate    196,   North  Front page   311 

Plate   197,  Chapel  Entrance,  East  Wing page  312 

Plate   198,  Coach    House   Entrance,   West   \Ving    page  313 

Plate   199,  Staircase    page  314 

Plate  200,  Salone    page  3 1 5 

Plate  201,   Salone    page  316 

Plate  202,   Southeast  Front  and  Terrace,  from  Garden   .  .    page  317 

Plate  203,  The  Garden   page  3 1 8 

Plate  204,  Cross  Alley  in  Garden page  319 

Plate  205,   Steps  to  Terrace  and  South  Door page  320 

Plate  206,  The  Terrace page  321 

La  Pietra,  II  Pellegrino,  Via  Bolognese,  near  Florence 

Plate  207,  Plot  Plan    page  325 


ILLUSTR.\TIONS  21 

Plate  208,  The    Gate    Lodges    page  326 

Plate  209,  The  Viale   page  326 

Plate  210,  Northwest  Front    page  327 

Plate  211,   Northwest  Front  and  Garden  Wall   page  328 

Plate  212,  Portone    page  329 

Plate  213,   Southeast   Front   from   Garden    page  330 

Plate  214,  Southeast    Front    page  331 

Plate  215,   Southeast  Front  and  Terrace page  332 

Plate  216,   Southeast   Front   from   Lower  Garden    page  332 

Plate  217,  Lower  Garden  from  Terrace   page  a^ 

Plate  218,  Southeast  Front  from  Parterre    page  ^a 

Plate  219,  Steps   in   Garden    page  334 

Plate  220,  Middle   Gate,  Walled   Garden    page  335 

Plate   221,   West   Gate,   Walled   Garden    page   336 

Plate  222,   Staircase    page  337 

Plate  223,   Salone    page  338 

Plate  224,   Dining  Room    page   339 

Plate  225,   Fireplace  in  Dining  Room    page  340 

Plate   226,   Fireplace  in  Ball  Room page   341 

The  Villa  Paimieri,  San  Domenico,  near  Florence 

Plate  227,   Plot  Plan    page  349 

Plate  228,   Inner  Gateway page  350 

Plate  229,  Approach  to   North   Front    page   351 

Plate   230,   North  Front page   352 

Plate  231,  Portone     page  353 

Plate  232,  Parterre,  Terrace  and  South  Front    page  354 

Plate  233,  Gateway   to   Parterre    page  355 

Plate  234,  The   Chapel    page  355 

Plate  235,   Ramp  from  Parterre  to  Terrace page   356 

Plate  236,  South  Front  and  Terrace page  357 

Plate  237,  South  Door  and  Clock page  358 

Plate  238,  Cortile  and  Loggia    page  359 

Plate  239,  West  End  of   Loggia    page  360 

Plate  240,  Thirteenth  Century  Door  in  Cortile page  361 

Plate  241,  The   Pool    page  362 

Plate  242,  Box  Parterre  and  Terrace  Wall page  363 

Plate  243,   Box  Parterre  and  Stair  to  Pool  Enclosure  ....    page  364 

Plate  244,   Box  Parterre  and  Well  Head page  365 

The  Villa  Cetinale  near  Siena 

Plate  245,  Plot  Plan   page  369 

Plate  2-)6,  Viale  of  Ilexes  and  Entrance   page  370 

Plate  247,  Cross  Alley  at  Entrance   page  371 


22  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Plate  248,  Upper   Garden    Parapet    page  371 

Plate  249,   South  Front   page  372 

Plate  250,   North   Front    page  373 

Plate  251,  Outside  Staircase,  North  Front page  374 

Plate  252,   Entrance  to  Terrace   page  375 

Plate  253,  The  Chapel    page  376 

Plate  254,  Road  to  Lower  Garden    page  376 

Le  Maschere,  in  the  Mugello 

Plate  255,  Entrance,  East  Front page  379 

Plate  256,  East  Front    page  380 

Plate  257,  The   Chapel    page  381 

Plate  258,  West  Door page  381 

Plate  259,  North    Front    page  382 

Plate  260,  West  Front   page  383 

The   Villa   Garzoni,   at   Collodi,   near    Pescia 

Plate  261,   Plot  Plan    page  391 

Plate  262,  Parterre  and   Palazzo    page  392 

Plate  263,  Ramp  to  South  Front page  393 

Plate  264,   Portion  of  Parterre  and  Hedges page  393 

Plate  265,  Pavilion  back  of  the  Palazzo   page  394 

Plate  266,  Parterre  and  Terraces,  from  Gate page  395 

Plate  267,  Cascade,  looking  up  from  Upper  Terrace  ....  page  396 

Plate  268,  Parterre  and  Pools,  from  Top  of  Cascade  ....  page  397 

Plate  269,  The  Parterre  de  Broderie    .,  .  .  .  page  398 

The  \'illa  Corsi-Sah'iati    (Guicciardini),  at  Sesto,  near  Florence 

Plate  270,  Plot  Plan    page  401 

Plate  271,   South  Front   page  402 

Plate  272,   South    Front,    Parterre    and    Pool    page  403 

Plate  273,  West  Belvedere,  South  Front page  404 

Plate  274,  Fountain  and  Pool  in  Parterre    page  404 

Plate  275,  Box-Bordered  Beds  in  Parterre   page  405 

Plate  276,  Loggetta  overlooking  Long  Pool page  405 

Plate  277,  Long  Pool page  406 

Plate  278,  Walk  and  Gateway  in  Garden    page  407 

Plate  279,  West  Pool  and  Dependencies page  407 


VILLAS  OF  FLORENCE 
AND  TUSCANY 

CHAPTER  I 


THE  TUSCAN  VILLA  BEFORE  THE  SLXTEENTH  CENTURY 

r  SEEMS  always  to  be  dc  rigiteur  to 
pry  into  the  origins  of  any  institution 
whereon  the  light  of  archiEological 
erudition  may  be  shed.  ArchjEological 
erudition  is  a  most  valuable  aid  to 
the  understanding  and  oftentimes  an 
indispensable  factor  in  creating  an 
intelligible  background,  but  there  is  likewise  not  seldom  a 
danger  that  the  background  may  be  so  elaborated  in  its  de- 
tails that  the  importance  of  the  principal  subject  to  be  pour- 
trayed  is  thereby  belittled. 

In  the  present  case,  therefore,  where  the  archaeological 
temptation  is  so  strong  and  might  readily  become  over- 
whelming if  yielded  to,  it  is  best  to  indulge  the  propensity 
for  discoursing  upon  antecedents  as  little  as  possible.  Re- 
serving efforts  in  that  direction  for  another  occasion,  let  us 
not  regard  the  Tuscan  villa  as  the  complex  result  of  a  long 
ancestry  of  historic,  social  and  economic  phenomena,  each 
requiring  minute  analysis,  but  rather  let  us  accept  it  at  its 
face  value. 

Suffice  it  to  say  in  explanation  of  its  genesis  that  the 
Tuscan  villa,  as  we  find  it  prior  to  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century  or,  in  most  cases,  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth, 
numbered  three  chief  progenitors  in  its  immediate  line  of 
descent — the  castellated  stronghold,  the  fortified  tower,  and 
the  farmhouse — while  there  was  a  more  remote  connexion 
with  the  country  dwelling  of  Etruscan  antiquity. 

Those  equally  mysterious  and  clever  people,  the  old 
Etruscans,  from  whom  the  early  Romans  learned  their  most 

23 


24  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

gracious  arts,  had  fully  developed  the  principle  of  the 
coitilc  and  loggia,  as  we  know  from  the  evidence  of  their 
tomb  pamtings.  It  seems  as  though  the  germ  of  these  two 
features,  that  contribute  so  much  to  the  charm  and  habit- 
ability  of  the  late  Mediteval  and  Renaissance  Tuscan  villa, 
must  have  lain  hidden  and  dormant  in  the  conscience  of 
Tuscany — the  endemic  conscience,  one  might  almost  call 
it — ready  to  spring  into  life  again  and  flourish  after  the  lapse 
of  centuries  when  the  time  was  ripe  for  reappearance.  The 
tower,  apparently  another  conception  of  Etruscan  builders, 
was  the  unit  of  mediaeval  domestic  architecture  in  Florence. 
A  number  of  these  towers,  belonging  to  a  group  of  related 
families  or  friendly  neighbours,  built  around  a  central  space 
made  possible  the  cortile  with  its  permanent  loggias  in  the 
enclosed  area.  Thus  was  the  ancient  principle  reaffirmed. 
Hence,  too,  in  due  time  was  developed  the  palazzo. 

When  political  conditions  and  the  state  of  the  country 
gave  sufficient  assurance  of  security  to  warrant  intermittent 
or  occasional  residence  in  outlying  districts  for  the  super- 
vision of  estates,  there  was  still  need  for  a  protective  form 
of  architecture.  It  was  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world, 
therefore,  to  transfer  to  the  countryside  the  city  method  of 
building  which  gave  the  required  protection.  Thus  did  a 
combination  of  the  small  castle,  the  tower  rising  storey  above 
storey,  and  the  fortified  farmhouse  capable  of  defence  pro- 
duce the  type  of  villa  generally  found  before  the  middle  of 
the  fifteenth  century  or  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth. 

In  the  case  of  those  early  villas  that  possess  a  tower,  as 
so  many  of  them  do,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  the  tower  is  the 
oldest  part  of  the  structure,  the  nucleus  about  which  suc- 
cessive additions  were  made,  providing  in  time  for  an 
enclosed  courtyard  or  cortile  with  its  well  and  its  attendant 
loggia.  Fortunately,  there  are  plenty  of  instances  either  to 
illustrate  each  stage  of  the  evolutionary  process  or  else  to 
shew  where  and  how  the  subsequent  additions  were  made  by 
which  the  individual  villa  has  arrived  at  its  present  form. 
II  Trebbio  (Plates  103-107),  frowning  from  the  top  of  a 


BEFORE  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY         25 

wild  and  rugged  hill  in  the  Mugello,  where  Cosimo  de' 
Medici,  the  first  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  spent  many  of  his 
happiest  boyhood  days,  is  a  good  example  of  the  castellated 
stronghold  which  served  as  an  occasional  country  residence 
for  the  Florentine  nobility.  II  Frullino  (Plates  49-58),  a 
little  villa  on  the  Via  Camerata  near  San  Gervasio,  hardby 
the  tramway  that  climbs  to  Fiesole,  shews  plainly  the 
original  tower,  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  trace  how  at  later 
dates  a  bit  was  added  on  here  and  a  bit  there  until  the  cortile 
was  enclosed  and  adorned  with  a  loggia.  The  Villa  Celsa 
(Plate  98),  near  Siena,  notwithstanding  the  severely  forti- 
fied character  of  the  main  portion  of  the  house,  e.xhibits  the 
stages  by  which  the  faftoria  and  sundry  dependencies  were 
added,  until  finally  the  cortile,  bounded  on  three  sides  by  the 
walls  of  the  castle  and  its  subsidiary  buildings,  was  enclosed 
on  the  fourth  by  throwing  a  screen  across  it  in  the  seven- 
teenth century. 

Of  course  the  processes  of  evolution  were  not  unvarying 
in  all  cases,  but  in  the  end  a  general  type  was  reached  that 
displayed  more  or  less  uniformity  in  essential  features  while 
allowing  scope  for  endless  minor  individualities  that  lend 
zest  to  the  pursuit  of  one's  investigation.  The  most  signifi- 
cant external  variation  in  the  general  type  consisted  in  the 
disposition  of  the  cortile  and  loggia.  Broadly  speaking,  the 
cortile  might  be  wholly  enclosed  on  all  four  sides  by  the 
body  of  the  house,  and  the  loggia  might  be  carried  about  the 
whole  circuit  of  the  courtyard  or  might  occur  on  one  or  two 
sides  only.  Again,  the  cortile  might  be  surrounded  on  three 
sides  by  the  body  of  the  house  while  the  fourth  side  was 
screened  by  a  curtain  wall.  In  this  latter  arrangement 
the  loggia  might  be  carried  along  inside  this  curtain  wall, 
which  separated  the  cortile  from  the  garden  and  inccjrpor- 
ated  it  within  the  lines  of  the  house,  and  might  or  might  not 
have  rooms  built  over  it.  A  slight  variation  from  this 
latter  scheme  shewed  the  loggia  or  loggias  incorporated 
within  the  body  of  the  house  leaving  the  w^ill  merely  as  a 
separation  between  the  cortile  and  the  garden.     The  essen- 


26  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

tial  point  of  differentiation  lay  in  the  complete  surrounding 
of  the  cortile  by  the  body  of  the  house  or  in  its  separation 
on  one  side  from  the  garden  by  a  curtain  wall.  These  two 
major  methods  of  variation  admitted  of  great  flexibility  in 
their  several  manners  of  interpretation. 

II  Trebbio  (Plate  107),  II  Frullino  (Plate  49),  and  the 
Villetta  (Plates  79  and  90)  adjoining  the  Villa  Palmieri, 
near  San  Domenico,  on  the  road  to  Fiesole,  have  the  cortile 
wholly  surrounded  by  the  body  of  the  house.  At  II  Trebbio 
there  are  loggias  on  two  opposite  sidesof  theror//7rand  one  of 
them  shelters  a  rather  rude  example  of  one  of  the  character- 
istic outside  staircases;  at  II  Frullino  and  the  Villetta  there 
is  a  loggia  at  only  one  side  of  the  cortile.  The  Villa  Galileo 
(Plate  16)  at  Pian  de'  Giullari,  the  Villa  Capponi  (Plate 
59),  at  Arcetri,  and  Cigliano  (Plates  i  and  5),  near  San 
Casciano  above  the  Val  di  Pesa,  all  have  the  cortile  at  one 
side  separated  from  the  garden  by  a  curtain  wall.  At  the 
Villa  Galileo  the  wall  is  merely  a  barrier  (Plates  18  and  19) 
between  the  cortile  and  the  garden,  while  the  ground  floor 
loggia,  now  walled  in  to  form  two  rooms,  is  at  one  side.  At 
the  Villa  Capponi  a  very  small  cortile  is  half  covered  by  a 
loggia  with  rooms  above  it,  while  another  loggia  has  been 
built  in  modern  times  in  the  garden  just  outside  the  dividing 
wall.  At  Cigliano  the  loggia,  which  is  carried  along  the 
curtain  wall,  has  a  range  of  first  floor  rooms  built  over  it 
(Plate  5).  The  illustrations  of  these  examples  give  some 
idea  of  the  latitude  of  interpretation  possible.  The  fact  that 
no  cortile  appears  on  the  plan  (Plate  31)  of  the  Villa  Pazzi 
(La  Vacchia).  at  Pian  de'  Giullari,  although  this  is  one  of 
the  oldest  villas,  one  portion  of  it  dating  back  to  11 80,  is  to 
be  explained  by  the  many  alterations  and  additions  the 
fabric  has  undergone  in  the  course  of  which  the  cortile  has 
been  built  over.  In  all  probability  the  cortile  once  occu- 
pied the  space  now  covered  by  the  salone  or  great  hall. 

As  early  as  the  twelfth  century  Florence  had  brought  the 
country  to  the  north,  south,  east  and  west  of  her  into  some 
semblance   of   settled   order  so   that  the   establishment   of 


BEFORE  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY         27 

estates  and  fortified  farms  became  possible.  For  the  most 
part,  however,  these  estates  were  left  to  the  rontadini  to 
cultivate  under  the  supervision  of  a  bailiff  and  the  absentee 
landlords  rarely  spent  more  than  a  day  or  two  in  residence. 
It  was  not  until  the  fourteenth  century  that  villa  life  can  be 
said  to  have  taken  a  really  firm  hold.  Thence  onward  we 
find  an  increasingly  rapid  multiplication  of  the  country 
houses  which  to-day  contribute  so  important  an  element  to 
the  aspect  of  rural  Tuscanv. 

In  studying  the  early  villas  there  is  one  common  charac- 
teristic of  which  we  must  not  lose  sight — the  tendency  to 
centralise  everything  within  one  compact  block  or  closely 
connected  series  of  buildings,  not  separating  the  farm 
dependencies  from  the  dwelling  in  the  manner  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  in  England  and  America.  Oftentimes  under  one  and 
the  same  roof  we  find  not  only  the  abode  of  the  master  and 
his  family,  with  quarters  for  the  domestic  servants,  but  also 
accommodation  for  the  fnltorc  or  bailiff  and  the  contadini 
or  farm  labourers'  families,  the  cantina  or  storage  place  for 
the  wine  and  oil  produced  on  the  estate,  the  granaio  or 
granary,  the  scudcric  or  stables,  ware-rooms  for  sundry  sorts 
of  agricultural  products,  drying-rooms  for  the  grapes  out 
of  which  eventually  the  vin  santo  is  pressed,  and  proper 
places  for  making  the  oil  and  the  wine. 

This  concentration,  dictated  in  the  beginning  by  the 
need  of  protection  and  defence  in  times  when  the  condition 
of  the  country  was  none  too  settled  and  lawlessness  and 
violence  were  everyday  events,  has  continued  with  little 
abatement  or  interruption  and  has,  it  must  be  admitted,  cer- 
tain practical  advantages  to  commend  it.  The  master  and 
mistress  can  keep  everybody  and  all  domestic  or  agricul- 
tural operations  well  under  their  own  eyes.  There  is  never 
a  time  in  the  day  when  they  cannot  easily  know  e.xactly  what 
all  their  servants  and  dependants  are  about.  Also,  especially 
in  inclement  weather  or  in  the  scorching  heat  of  summer 
noon,  they  can  visit  all  the  sundry  ofiices  under  cover. 

As  an  apposite  instance  to  shew  how  this  seemingly  con- 


28  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

glomerate  and  unwieldly  arrangement  may  work  out  with 
perfectly  satisfactory  and  comfortable  results,  we  may  point 
to  Cigliano  (Plates  1-15),  a  villa  that  has  been  left  virtually 
untouched  in  all  important  particulars  since  the  latter  part  of 
the  quattrocento.  The  rooms  occupied  by  the  family  are 
all  on  the  ground  floor,  with  the  exception  of  a  range  of 
small  rooms  on  the  first  floor  directly  over  the  loggia.  The 
rest  of  the  first  floor  is  occupied  by  the  servants  and  the 
contadini.  To  the  west  of  the  house  the  land  falls  abruptly 
to  the  valley  and  at  this  side  the  lower  level  of  the  ground 
gives  access  to  a  spacious  vaulted  basement  storey  in  which 
are  the  granaio,  storage  rooms  and  the  ranlina,  the  latter 
lined  about  all  the  walls  with  great  wine  casks  and  huge 
earthen  oil  jars  amply  large  enough  to  have  concealed  Ali 
Baba  and  the  forty  thieves  very  thoroughly.  And  hard  by 
is  the  stable. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  mode  of  life  lived  at 
Cigliano,  patriarchal  in  its  simplicity  and  amplitude,  is  not 
at  all  incompatible  with  much  quiet  elegance.  In  the  morn- 
ing the  several  members  of  the  family  go  about  their  duties 
or  occupations,  or  perhaps  drive.  Luncheon  comes  at  one 
o'clock,  after  which  there  is  the  siesta  for  those  so  inclined, 
while  others  not  disposed  to  sleep  devote  the  time  to  corre- 
spondence or  reading.  Later  in  the  afternoon  there  is  driving 
or  motoring,  tea,  visiting  and  other  social  duties,  and  din- 
ner comes  at  eight  or  eight-thirty.  The  rortile,  the  loggia 
and  the  garden  play  important  parts  in  the  scheme  of  do- 
mestic existence,  and  are  used  every  day  and  all  day.  The 
Italian  naturally  loves  to  be  in  the  open  air,  and  in  the  loggia 
he  can  gratify  his  inclination  with  perfect  privacy  and,  at 
the  same  time,  leave  his  books,  papers  and  other  chattels 
lying  about  with  as  complete  security  from  disturbance  or 
weather  as  though  they  were  in  a  room.  Nor  need  things  be 
put  away  at  night,  for  then  the  great  portone  or  outer  door 
of  the  villa  is  shut  and  there  comes  that  satisfying  sense  of 
protection  that  always  invests  a  Tuscan  house  after  the  per- 
formance of  this  ceremony.    If  the  noonday  sun  pours  down 


BEFORE  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY         29 

too  fiercely  into  the  rortilc,  a  light  canvas  awning  can  be 
drawn  across  the  whole  space,  in  the  old  Roman  manner, 
making  a  cool  shade  and  causing  a  refreshing  draught  to 
blow  through  from  the  great  north  door  to  the  garden  door. 
The  garden,  too,  is  fully  made  use  of  and  really  lived  in. 
It  is  spacious  enough  for  all  horticultural  delight  and  small 
enough  to  preserve  the  sense  of  intimacy.  Being  protected 
by  an  high  wall,  it  has  also  the  cardinal  merit  of  privacy. 

As  to  the  fabric  of  the  early  Tuscan  villa,  its  walls  may  be 
of  stone,  but  are  more  usually  of  stone  covered  with  stucco.  In 
the  latter  case  the  doorways  and  the  trims  of  the  windows  are 
generally  of  the  grey  or  grey-brown  pietra  serena  or  sand- 
stone, carefully  dressed  and  carved  with  vigorous  mouldings 
and  bold  consoles  supporting  the  projecting  cills  and  lintols. 
The  outside  windows  of  the  ground  floor  rooms  are  almost 
always  protected  by  stout  iron  grilles  or  gratings.  Time  was 
when  these  gratings  were  necessary  for  protection;  now  they 
are  rather  a  convention  than  otherwise,  although  it  is  a 
satisfaction  to  be  able  to  leave  the  window  of  a  ground  floor 
bedroom  wide  open  knowing  that  no  nocturnal  prowler  can 
get  in.  The  roofs  are  of  red  tiles  and  have  wide  projecting 
eaves,  which  create  agreeable  relief  of  shadows  in  lieu  of 
a  cornice. 

The  fjelosie  or  shutters,  with  fixed  slats,  are  generally 
of  a  light,  blithe  green.  When  they  are  used  for  the  grated 
ground  floor  windows  they  are  so  contrived  as  to  slide  back 
and  forth;  at  other  windows  they  swing  on  hinges.  The 
stuccoed  walls  of  most  of  the  early  villas  are  of  a  colour 
whose  elusive  quality  well  nigh  bafifles  accurate  description. 
Indeed  it  depends  largely  upon  the  sort  of  light  in  which 
they  are  seen.  In  certain  lights  they  are  grey,  in  other  lights 
they  appear  unmistakably  rosy  pink,  salmon,  bufif,  or  warm 
umber.  In  some  cases,  where  they  have  been  purposely 
tinted,  the  pink  or  light  brown  are  more  or  less  constant,  but 
ordinarily  the  hue  changes  with  chameleon-like  mutability 

It  is  impossible  to  lay  down  any  fixed  rule  regarding  the 
plan  of  the  early  villas.     Apart  from  the  two  methods  of 


30  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

arranging  the  cortile  and  grouping  the  rooms  about  it,  to 
which  allusion  has  already  been  made,  the  disposition 
of  the  rooms  and  their  uses  seem  to  have  been  deter- 
mined by  personal  preference  or  by  the  special  require- 
ments of  each  individual  case.  Then,  again,  in  a  great 
many  instances  so  many  changes  and  additions  have  occur- 
red in  the  course  of  centuries  that  the  original  plan,  what- 
ever it  may  have  been,  has  been  entirely  obliterated.  In 
no  two  houses,  therefore,  do  we  discover  identity  of  arrange- 
ment. At  Cigliano,  besides  the  sola  or  great  living-room, 
the  dining-room  and  a  morning  room,  the  ground  floor  has  a 
number  of  large  bedrooms,  while  the  kitchen  is  in  the  base- 
ment storey.  At  the  Villetta,  adjoining  the  Villa  Palmieri, 
the  sala  is  on  the  ground  floor  but  the  kitchen  ( Plate  9 1 )  and 
dining-room  are  both  on  the  first  floor.  At  II  Frullino 
(Plate  49)  the  dining-room  is  on  the  ground  floor  and  the 
whole  first  floor  is  given  over  to  bedrooms,  but  there  are  cer- 
tain features  that  lead  one  to  suppose  that  the  dining-room 
was  at  one  time  on  the  first  floor.  One  might  readily  go  on 
multiplying  instances  to  shew  the  flexibility  of  arrange- 
ment that  apparently  once  obtained.  In  every  villa  there  is, 
or  at  least  there  always  was,  some  part  set  aside  for  a  chapel, 
or  else  the  chapel  was  a  separate  building  outside. 

In  the  early  villas  the  staircase  was  a  purely  utilitarian 
feature  and  was  never  made  the  vehicle  of  architectural 
efifort  as  it  was  at  a  later  date.  There  might  be,  it  is  true,  a 
carved  newel  capped  with  a  seated  lion  or  perchance,  a 
fretted  balustrade,  or,  if  there  was  an  outside  staircase — as 
at  II  Trebbio  or  the  Villetta, — some  slight  amenity  of  design 
might  be  bestowed  upon  it.  As  a  rule,  however,  the  stair- 
case was  in  an  inconspicuous  place  and  was  not  much 
embellished.  Sometimes  there  was  merely  a  winding  stair 
in  a  remote  corner. 

It  was  otherwise  with  the  fireplaces  and  doorways  upon 
which  a  wealth  of  carved  enrichment  was  often  lavished. 
The  nature  of  this  enrichment  may  be  seen  from  illustra- 
tions   in    this    volume    and    from    numerous    illustrations 


31 


BEFORL:  the  sixteenth  century         33 

elsewhere,  especially  in  books  (levoted  pariieularly  to  this 
subject.  xA.nother  object  upon  which  carved  decoration  was 
very  frequently  displayed  was  the  laraho  or  iKr/n/ilo,  an 
accessory  often  found  in  dining-rooms  or  in  some  convenient 
position  close  by.  It  was  a  permanent  structure  of  stone 
built  into  the  wall  in  the  manner  cf  a  niche  and  provided 
with  a  bason  and  a  tap  whence  issued  running  water.  Here 
ablutions  could  be  made  before  and  after  meat,  and  water 
could  also  be  drawn  for  the  table.  The  acqitaio  in  the  dining- 
room  of  the  Villa  Pietra  is  a  good  example  of  fifteenth 
century  design. 

The  floors  were  generally  paved  with  stone  or  with  large, 
flat  bricks  about  eleven  by  five  inches  in  size.  It  was 
customary  to  paint  and  varnish  the  bricks  so  that  a  smooth 
surface  was  presented.  The  window  cills  of  the  windows 
on  the  ground  floor  were  oftentimes  high  above  the  floor. 
When  this  was  the  case,  the  window  was  approached  by 
several  stone  steps  and  there  was  not  infrequently  a  stone  seat 
across  the  window  embrasure  or  two  small  seats  in  the  cor- 
ners, supported  on  moulded  bases.  Good  examples  of  such 
arrangements  may  be  seen  in  the  music  room  of  the  Villa 
Pazzi  and  in  the  loggia  of  Cigliano. 

The  ceilings  were  either  lunette  vaulted,  with  pen- 
dentives  springing  from  carved  stone  corbels  or  else  were 
beamed  with  heavy  timbers,  the  beams  resting  upon  richly 
carved  corbels  of  wood.  Beams  and  corbels  were  embel- 
lished with  colour  and  the  cofTers  bet^veen  the  beams  were 
likewise  often  painted.  The  painted  decorations  of  the 
ceilings  along  with  the  geometrical  diapered  patterns  and 
other  devices  that  often  covered  the  plaster  walls  gave  the 
rooms  a  rich,  warm  aspect  of  an  intensity  which  we  some- 
times find  it  difficult  to  visualise  from  the  faded  examples 
one  now  occasionally  sees.  The  subject  of  mural  decoration 
will  be  more  fully  dealt  with  in  the  chapter  on  Decoration 
and  Furnishing.  The  walls  were  not  invariably  painted. 
Oftentimes  they  were  merely  whitewashed  or  greywashcd. 
In  such  cases  the  white  or  grey  of  the  walls  and  ceilings 

3 


34  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

served  as  an  admirable  foil  to  enhance  the  effect  of  the 
carved  stone  corbels,  many  of  which  were  exquisitely 
wrought  with  that  delicate  grace  that  distinguished  the 
craftsmanship  of  the  fifteenth  century,  so  admirably  exem- 
plified in  the  work  of  Mino  da  Fiesole  and  men  of  his  school. 
Another  particular  in  which  the  skill  of  the  stone  carver 
found  opportunity  was  the  embellishment  of  the  capitals  for 
the  columns  of  the  loggias  and  the  corbels  from  which  sprang 
the  pendentives  of  the  vaulting.  Both  capitals  and  corbels 
were  often  of  elaborate  design.  Occasionally  we  find 
medallions  of  polychrome  maiolica  inserted  in  exterior  walls 
as  an  item  of  enrichment.  A  good  example  of  this  sort  of 
decoration  occurs  in  the  cortilc  at  Cigliano. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  TUSCAN  \  Il.LA  OF  THF,  SIXTEENTH  CENTIRV 


OMPARING  the  villas  of  the  four- 
teenth and  fifteenth  centuries,  on  the 
one  hand,  with  those  of  the  sixteenth, 
on  the  other,  we  find  there  is  a  per- 
ceptible dififercnce.  There  is  a  differ- 
ence in  the  spirit  that  underlies  their 
conception.  There  is  also  a  difference, 
which  it  requires  no  very  critical  eye  to  detect,  in  the  manner 
of  their  architectural  expression.  They  are  more  consciously 
architectural  in  plan,  in  exterior  aspect,  and  in  their  interior 
arrangement.  They  are  less  rugged  in  appearance  and,  in 
many  cases,  they  have  lost  a  certain  picturesque  or  romantic 
quality  that  the  earlier  villas  possessed,  a  quality  derived 
from  their  primitive  simplicity,  from  the  somewhat  for- 
tuitous method  of  their  growth,  and  from  the  naivete  with 
which  additions  were  made  as  inclination  or  necessity 
prompted  without  reference  to  formulated  principles  of 
composition.  To  compensate  for  this  loss  they  have  gained 
in  coherence  of  mien  and  in  elegance  of  finish.  The  prin- 
ciples of  balance,  of  symmetry,  and  deliberate  architectural 
endeavour  have  entered  upon  the  stage  and  made  themselves 
felt  to  a  degree  unknown  under  the  old  order. 

They  were  designed  to  accommodate  virtually  the  same 
mode  of  life  as  their  predecessors,  but  the  scheme  of  domestic 
existence  was  a  little  more  amplified,  a  little  more  preten- 
tious in  its  relation  to  externals.  They  were  still  the  centres 
of  agricultural  estates  and  the  principle  of  concentration, 
explained  in  the  preceding  chapter,  still  remained  in  force. 
But  the  villas  were  obviously  designed  less  for  defence  than 
they  had  been  previously.  There  was  plainly  a  tendency  to 
make  more  of  the  master's  dwelling,  which  was  now  marked 
by  more  commodious  apartments  and  a  general  aspect  of 

35 


36  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

spacious  comfort.  The  other  functions  of  the  villa  sink  more 
into  abeyance,  so  far  as  actual  appearances  are  concerned, 
and  we  often  find  the  dwellings  of  the  fattore  and  the  con- 
tadini,  the  stables,  the  cautina,  and  other  dependencies 
detached  or  even  at  some  distance  from  the  master's  house. 
When  they  are  not  at  a  distance,  they  are  skillfully  concealed 
or  else  suppressed  and  minimised  as  far  as  possible  so  that 
their  presence  as  a  part  of  the  establishment  is  not  so  con- 
spicuous. In  other  words,  the  machinery  is  hidden  or 
shifted  into  the  background,  the  amenities  of  proprietary 
residence  are  magnified. 

This  change  may  be  attributed  to  several  causes.  It  will 
suffice  to  mention  four.  In  the  first  place,  there  was  a  greater 
degree  of  civil  security.  Turmoils  and  alarums  there  were, 
but  outside  of  periods  of  recognised  warfare  when  disorders 
were  naturally  to  be  expected,  there  was  less  disturbance 
from  petty  lawlessness  and  brigandage  t(^  keep  the  country- 
side chronically  apprehensive.  As  the  century  advanced 
the  firm  rule  of  Duke  Cosimo  de'  Medici  measurably  stabil- 
ised conditions  throughout  Tuscany,  made  law  respected 
and  produced  an  hitherto  unwonted  standard  of  order. 
Consequently,  the  need  for  defensive  architecture  and  close 
concentration  of  the  villa  dependencies  decreased. 

In  the  second  place,  a  substantial  increase  in  wealth 
favoured  more  pretentious  dwellings  and  encouraged  the 
taste  for  splendour  and  display.  As  a  result,  we  behold 
greater  and  broader  dignity  of  composition  in  the  villas  of 
the  period,  and  a  corresponding  heed  to  the  approaches  and 
surroundings.  Furthermore,  the  Classic  influence  was 
becoming  more  and  more  clearly  articulate  and  potent,  with 
its  emphasis  on  ft)rmality,  symmetry,  order  and  balance.  At 
the  same  time,  the  scope  of  the  architect  as  a  recognised  and 
necessary  factor  in  the  field  of  domestic  design  was  vastly 
broadened.  Last  of  all,  the  taste  for  the  enjoyment  of  nature 
and  the  disposition  to  spend  more  time  in  the  country,  bred 
of  humanistic  ardour  and  so  characteristic  of  the  sixteenth 
century  throughout  Italy,  led  the  nobility  and  other  landed 


THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY  ii 

proprietors  to  a  solicitude  for  villas  worthy  of  their  estate 
far  greater  than  when  the  country  house  was  merely  a  place 
of  occasional  and  brief  sojourns  on  visits  of  supervision. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  Hnd  a  more  striking  illustration 
of  the  change  of  spirit  that  had  taken  place  than  a  com- 
parison between  the  \'illa  dci  Collazzi  (Plates  145-155) 
and  Le  Corti  (Plates  129  143),  on  the  one  hand,  and 
Cigliano  (  Plate  2),  the  Villetta  (Plate  80)  at  San  Domenico, 
II  Frullino  (Plate  53),  or  the  Villa  Pazzi  (Plate  36),  on  the 
other.  Le  Corti  and  Villa  dei  Collazzi  are  embodiments  of 
the  new  and  larger  conception  of  what  was  apprc^-jriate  in 
villa  architecture;  the  others  typify  the  characteristics  of 
the  earlier  period,  characteristics  dwelt  upon  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter. 

The  Villa  dei  Collazzi  has  alwavs  been  ascribed  to 
Michelangelo  as  architect,  and  although  this  attribution 
has  frequently  been  disputed,  there  seems  to  be  no  sufHcicnt 
ground  to  dismiss  it  as  apocryphal.  To  say  that  the  villa 
discloses  certain  architectural  faults  is  no  valid  proof  of 
other  authorship,  for  it  is  an  admitted  fact  that  some  of 
Michelangelo's  fully  authenticated  architectural  perform- 
ances betray  points  open  to  very  serious  criticism. 
Michelangelo  never  professed  to  be  an  architect.  Indeed, 
he  always  disclaimed  the  title  and  all  his  architectural 
labours  were  taken  up  under  strong  pressure  and  with  a  dis- 
inclination on  his  part  amounting  at  times  to  positive 
aversion.  At  all  events,  the  Michelangelesque  origin  of 
the  Villa  dei  Collazzi  is  neither  here  nor  there  so  far  as  the 
present  issue  is  concerned.  It  is  enough  for  us  that  a 
masterly  conception  of  the  greatest  breadth  and  dignity, 
thoroughly  and  consciously  architectural  in  spirit,  has  dis- 
tinctly stamped  a  stage  of  progress. 

Le  Corti,  while  at  first  glance  it  appears  to  retain  not  a 
little  of  the  earlier  austerity  of  exterior  aspect,  upon  closer 
examination  discovers  a  fully  coherent  and  finished  con- 
ception of  composition  along  with  mature  judgement  of 
values  in  the  employment  of  external  details.     An  inspec- 


38  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

tion  of  the  interior  is  still  more  convincing.  Simplicity  is 
dominant.  But  it  is  the  simplicity  of  studied  calculation 
and,  in  conjunction  with  the  simplicity,  there  is  every  evi- 
dence of  a  completely  rounded  scheme  carried  out  with 
vigorous  but  restrained  elegance. 

Le  Corti  and  the  Villa  dei  Collazzi,  to  name  only  two  of 
the  many  significant  examples  of  the  new  order,  indicate 
that  Tuscany  was  not  a  whit  behind  the  rest  of  Italy  in  re- 
sponding to  the  new  impulses  destined  to  produce  such 
momentous  results  in  the  arts  of  domestic  architecture  and 
garden  design.  In  point  of  actual  date,  indeed,  Tuscany  was 
well  in  advance.  There  is  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  some 
to  regard  Rome  as  the  source  and  inspiration  of  the 
Renaissance  Italian  villa.  They  are  wont  to  imply,  if  they 
do  not  explicitly  state,  that  the  Roman  villa  of  the  Renais- 
sance antedated  villa  developments  elsewhere  and  supplied 
the  pattern  for  emulation.  And  the  general  public,  with 
unreflecting  credulity,  is  all  too  ready  to  accept  this  alluring 
claim  of  priority. 

It  is  quite  true  the  Renaissance  Roman  villa  experienced 
a  rapidity  of  growth  and  attained  a  degree  of  magnificence 
unparallelled  in  other  parts  of  Italy  so  that  the  eyes  of  admi- 
ration are  compelled  to  turn  their  gaze  thither.  But  the 
initial  impetus  for  all  this  glory  did  not  originate  in  Rome. 
It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  Rome  never  originated  any- 
thing, and  that  what  she  borrowed  from  external  sources  she 
wondrously  enriched  and  developed  with  heroic  amplitude. 
So  it  was  with  the  Renaissance  villa. 

As  a  matter  of  actual  fact,  villa  life  was  an  established 
institution  in  Tuscany  while  Rome  was  still  in  a  slough  of 
late  Mediaeval  torpor,  and  the  country  around  Rome  a 
desert  wilderness  tenanted  chiefly  by  peasants  and  infested 
with  banditti  or  with  doubtful  characters  who  lurked 
amidst  the  ruins  of  Classic  antiquity.  The  first  impulse 
toward  the  building  of  villas  in  the  country  round  about 
Rome  came  from  Tuscany,  as  we  shall  see  by-and-by.  As 
we  have  already  noted,  Tuscan  villas  in  the  sixteenth  century 


THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY  39 

responded  to  the  current  impetus  toward  architectural  de- 
velopment, and  in  the  seventeenth  there  was  a  correspondins; 
change.  The  Roman  villa  quickly  reached  a  spectacular 
and  grandiose  climax.  It  fairly  burst  into  immediate  full 
bloom.  One  stands  amazed  at  the  stupendous  scale  upon 
which  buildings  and  gardens  alike  were  executed.  The 
progress  of  the  Tuscan  villa,  on  the  contrary,  was  more  even 
and  uniform.  Its  history  began  earlier,  its  development  was 
more  conservative,  and  it  has  held  its  own,  with  undi- 
minished charm,  to  the  present  day.  Besides  all  this,  the 
Tuscan  villa  realised  a  certain  domestic  and  human  quality 
that  the  creations  of  Roman  magnificence  never  achieved. 

How  the  Tuscan  villa  was  forerunner  and  antetype  to 
the  Roman  villa  of  the  Renaissance  may  be  gathered  from 
the  story  of  the  Villa  Madama.  This  princely  dwelling,  on 
'the  slope  of  Monte  Mario  a  little  way  outside  the  walls  of 
Rome,  Raphael  designed  for  the  Cardinal  Giulio  de'  Medici 
a  few  years  before  he  ascended  the  Papal  Throne  as 
Clement  VII.  The  work  begun  in  iqiy  was  carried  on 
after  Raphael's  death  in  1520  by  Giulio  Romano,  his 
favourite  pupil  and  heir,  presumably  with  the  continued 
collaboration  of  Giovanni  da  Udine  and  the  brothers 
Battista  and  Antonio  da  Sangallo.  By  1521  not  more  than  a 
third  of  the  vast  pile  devised  by  Raphael  for  the  main 
structure  had  reached  a  state  of  partial  completion.  The 
various  stables,  garden  houses,  and  other  subsidiary  buildings 
were  either  never  finished  or,  for  the  most  part,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  never  even  begun.  The  garden  plans  fared  no  better 
in  their  fulfillment.  What  was  actually  accomplished  in  the 
way  of  garden  making  was  but  a  scant  moiety  of  the  magnif- 
icently ambitious  scheme  the  ablest  designers  of  the  time 
had  contrived  on  paper.  At  this  point  the  work  stopped, 
never  to  be  resumed.  The  first  great  Roman  villa  of  the 
Renaissance  was  destined  to  remain  unfinished. 

But  though  so  small  a  portion  of  this  gigantic  project 
was  ever  realised,  the  plans  for  the  villa  and  its  environ- 
ment of  gardens,  wherein  were  all  manner  of  delights  that 


40  \1LLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

fertile  Renaissance  invention  could  compass,  were  known, 
and  shewn,  and  talked  of  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  Italy.  Draughts  of  the  designs  were  passed  from  hand  to 
hand  and  lent  to  this  or  that  great  personage,  and  other 
princely  builders  and  their  architects  failed  not  to  draw 
therefrom  suggestions  that  they  could  put  into  effect  in  the 
several  undertakings  of  villa  building  or  garden  designing 
they  had  in  contemplation  or  on  which  they  then  chanced  to 
be  actually  embarked.  Thus  the  unfulfilled  plans  for  the 
Villa  Madama  supplied  an  epoch-making  stimulus  and 
exercised  a  profound  influence. 

But  Cardinal  Giulio  de'  Medici,  with  all  his  cleverness, 
did  not  conceive  the  scheme  for  his  palatial  villa  without 
something  to  suggest  it.  The  germ  of  inspiration  is  undoubt- 
edly to  be  found  in  his  vivid  recollection  of  the  villas  about 
Florence  in  which  he  had  passed  much  of  his  boyhood. 
There  was  Poggio  a  Cajano  (Plate  ii8);  there  was 
Careggi ;  there  was  Cafaggiuolo  (Plate  no),  in  the 
Mugello;  and  there  was  the  sun-bathed  villa  on  the  south- 
ern slope  of  the  hill  beneath  Fiesole.  A  person  of  Giulio's 
sensitive  temperament,  receptive  to  every  appeal  of  art, 
could  never  forget  the  manifold  delights  of  these  rural 
abodes.  Nor  could  he  forget  that  each  of  them  had  been 
designed  by  an  eminent  architect — Poggio  a  Cajano  by 
Giuliano  da  Sangallo,  the  other  three  by  Michelozzo 
Michelozzi.  What  more  natural  then,  when  he  found  him- 
self in  a  position  to  realise  a  long-cherished  dream,  than  that 
he  should  desire  to  emulate  or  even  endeavour  to  surpass  his 
early  Tuscan  homes,  summoning  the  ablest  masters  of  his 
day  to  aid  him  in  the  undertaking?  The  Villa  Farnesina, 
a  less  ambitious  conception  attributed  to  Raphael,  which 
somewhat  antedates  the  Villa  Madama,  was  built  by  a 
Tuscan,  Agostino  Chigi  of  Siena.  Thus  is  it  evident  that 
from  Tuscany  came  the  primal  inspiration  that  opened  the 
avenue  to  the  subsequent  performance  of  such  momentous 
achievements  in  the  creation  of  Roman  Renaissance  villas. 

Likewise,  in  the  matter  of  retaining  eminent  architects  to 


THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY  41 

design  villas,  the  palm  of  priority  belongs  to  Tuscany.  There 
were  the  four  villas  just  mentioned,  for  example,  and  there 
was  the  old  Villa  Rusciano  which  Luca  Pitti — he  who  built 
the  Pitti  Palace,  to  his  own  undoing — called  in  Brunelleschi 
to  remodel  and  enlarge.  One  might  easily  go  on  multi- 
plying instances  and  also  add  lists  to  indicate  where  great 
architects  and  sculptors  have  not  disdained  to  make  some 
small  touch  of  embellishment  or  execute  some  trifling  en- 
largement to  ancient  houses  that  were  allowed  to  retain  most 
of  their  primitive  aspect.  While  these  precedents  were  estab- 
lished in  the  fifteenth  century,  it  was,  however,  the  sixteenth 
that  witnessed  a  general  recourse  to  the  services  of  acknowl- 
edged professionals. 

Although  Poggio  a  Cajano  and  Cafaggiuolo,  so  far  as 
their  actual  date  is  concerned,  belong  to  the  fifteenth  century, 
it  has  seemed  best  to  speak  of  them  in  connexion  with  the 
sixteenth  century  for  the  spirit  by  which  one  of  them  is  in- 
formed— Poggio  a  Cajano — appears  rather  to  belong  to  the 
later  period  and  prefigures  the  day  when  the  villa  became  an 
object  of  explicit  and  conscious  endeavour  on  the  part  of  the 
recognised  professional  architect.  The  other — Cafaggiuolo 
— was  intentionally  designed  in  the  earlier  castellated  man- 
ner and  displayed  the  true  date  of  its  erection  only  in  the 
matter  of  details  current  at  the  time  so  that  it  is  not,  in 
reality,  representative  of  the  century  in  which  it  was  built. 
It  is  mentioned  in  this  place  solely  because  of  the  deliberate 
architectural  effort  of  which  it  was  the  result,  a  procedure 
distinctive  of  the  later  period. 

The  walls  of  the  sixteenth  century  villa  were  customarily 
of  stone  coated  over  with  stucco  while  pietra  serena  or  sand- 
stone was  employed  for  the  execution  of  details.  In  the  case 
of  the  Sienese  villas  the  native  stone  of  the  region,  resembling 
the  Roman  travertin,  was  used  instead  of  the  pietra  serena. 
The  roofs  were  of  red  tiles,  as  they  were  in  the  preceding 
century,  and  the  overhanging  eaves  were  retained.  The 
fabric  in  general  displayed  virtually  the  same  character- 
istics of  quality  and  use  of  materials. 


42  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

In  the  matter  of  plan,  however,  we  meet  with  a  significant 
change.  While  in  many  cases  the  cortilc  preserved  its  old 
status  as  an  important  feature,  in  many  others  it  was  elimin- 
ated from  the  scheme  and  instead  of  a  cortile,  wholly  or 
partiallysurrounded  by  the  body  of  the  house,  we  find  a  court- 
yard along  one  side  of  the  main  structure.  About  the  other 
side  of  this  courtyard  were  ranged  the  subsidiary  buildings 
belonging  to  the  villa.  Occasionally  we  find  not  only  the  cor- 
tile dispensed  with  but  not  even  a  courtyard  to  take  its  place. 
Le  Corti  has  the  old  cortilc  wholly  enclosed  with  loggias 
about  all  four  sides.  The  Villa  dei  Collazzi,  on  the  other 
hand,  has  a  cortilc  entirely  open  on  one  side,  without  even  the 
semblance  of  a  curtain  wall,  thus  introducing  a  new  method 
of  treatment  for  an  old  feature.  By  way  of  contrast,  Belcaro 
(Plate  169)  and  Vicobello  (Plate  178),  both  of  them  near 
Siena  and  both  designed  by  Baldassare  Peruzzi,  have  no 
cortili  incorporated  within  the  mass  of  the  house  but  are 
planned  as  compact  rectangular  blocks,  a  form  that  Peruzzi 
seems  to  have  preferred,  basing  his  predilection,  perhaps, 
upon  certain  principles  of  Classic  composition  that  had 
recently  been  strongly  emphasised. 

Belcaro  still  maintains  a  good  share  of  the  external 
character  of  the  old  castle  which  Peruzzi  was  required  to 
rebuild  as  a  villa.  The  conditions  under  which  he  was 
working  made  it  expedient  to  contrive  an  oblong  courtyard, 
ranging  the  dependencies  on  the  long  side  opposite  the 
master's  house,  while  the  ends  are  closed  by  screens  shutting 
ofT  respectively  the  garden  and  the  outer  fortified  court.  The 
cortile  is  still  a  pivotal  feature,  but  there  is  a  new  centre  of 
gravity — it  has  changed  its  position  in  the  general  plan.  It 
is  an  extremely  beautiful  composition.  At  Vicobello  no 
such  pre-existing  conditions  imposed  any  necessity  upon  the 
architect.  Here,  nevertheless,  he  chose  virtually  the  same 
arrangement.  The  Villa  del  Arcivescovo  (Plate  186), 
near  Lucca,  is  a  good  example  of  the  country  house  without 
either  enclosed  cortile  or  central  courtyard  of  the  sort  just 
described. 


THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY  43 

During  the  sixteenth  century  the  beamed  and  painted 
ceilings  and  the  ceilings  with  lunette  vaulting  and  pen- 
dentives  springing  from  carved  stone  corbels,  of  the  sorts 
described  in  the  preceding  chapter,  continued  to  be  made. 
At  the  same  time,  we  meet  more  frequently  with  the  barrel 
vaulted  ceiling,  sometimes  of  great  span  (Plates  156  and 
125),  and  now  and  then  we  encounter  the  coved  ceiling.  The 
floors  in  general  were  paved  with  stone  or  with  large  flat 
bricks  of  the  kind  previously  mentioned.  These  bricks  were 
often  painted  and  varnished,  in  the  manner  before  indicated, 
and  the  colour  was  apt  to  be  a  dark  brownish  red,  although 
at  times  there  was  apparently  some  attempt  at  diversity  of 
colour  and  pattern.   Cement  or  terrazzo  was  also  used. 

Fireplaces  and  doorways  continued,  as  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  to  be  the  vehicles  of  much  beautiful  and  graceful 
carved  enrichment  although,  as  the  century  wore  on,  it  is 
to  be  observed  that  projections,  lines  and  patterns  all  tended 
to  become  appreciably  bolder  and  lose  that  exquisitely  ten- 
der delicacy  that  imparts  an  almost  ethereal  quality  to  so 
much  of  the  quattrocento  work.  We  see  this  tendency 
plainly  exemplified  in  the  work  of  Michelangelo  and  in  the 
designs  of  Benvenuto  Cellini,  to  name  only  two  exponents 
of  the  prevailing  spirit  of  their  age.  There  are  those  who 
afifect  to  sneer  at  the  older  mode,  sniff  at  it  as  "  goldsmiths' 
work,"  and  call  it  non-architectural.  The  fact  remains, 
however,  that  it  possesses  in  marked  degree  a  rare  and  noble 
refinement,  a  certain  peculiarly  spiritual  attribute  which  the 
later  work  can  never  approach,  and  totally  misses  without 
giving  us  anything  to  take  its  place.  Vigorous  and  fiorid 
fancy,  coupled  wath  great  manual  dexterity,  may  be  bril- 
liantly effective  but  can  scarcely  prove  a  satisfying  substitute. 

The  staircase  of  the  sixteenth  century  began  to  assert 
itself  more  than  its  predecessor  of  the  fifteenth  and  was 
accorded  more  serious  attention  both  in  the  plan  and  in  the 
matter  of  appropriate  architectural  ornament.  At  Le  Corti, 
for  example,  while  the  treatment  is  thoroughly  conservative 


44  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

there  is,  nevertheless,  observable  a  distinct  advance  over  the 
manner  of  dealing  with  it  seen  in  some  of  the  older  villas 
(Plates  137  and  139).  At  Poggio  a  Cajano  and  Careggi,  as 
we  have  already  found,  staircases  received  a  measure  of  con- 
sideration above  the  usual  wont  of  the  time.  At  Font'  all' 
Erta,  where  Bartolommeo  Ammanati  was  employed  to  add 
an  imposing  loggia,  the  staircase  presents  a  really  modern 
aspect.  It  is  not  until  the  seventeenth  century,  however,  that 
we  can  expect  the  general  development  of  the  staircase  to  the 
full  extent  of  its  possibilities. 

In  the  particular  of  mural  decoration  we  find  the  old 
geometrical  diapered  repeats  and  arabesques  gone  out  of 
fashion.  When  chromatic  enrichment  was  added  to  walls 
it  was  much  more  in  accord  with  current  tastes  to  employ 
frescoes  based  on  clearly  conceived  themes  and  possessing 
pictorial  interest  and  continuity.  They  were  regarded  less 
as  a  decoration  pure  and  simple  and  more  as  a  professed 
work  of  art  and  were  judged  accordingly.  Not  only  walls 
but  ceilings  also  were  thus  frequently  adorned. 

Apart  from  the  use  of  tapestries,  another  way  of  using 
fabrics  for  wall  decoration  was  to  apply  damasks  and  bro- 
cades which  produced  an  exceedingly  rich  and  full  coloured 
efifect.  The  chapel  walls  at  Le  Corti  (Plate  140)  present  an 
interesting  example  of  such  treatment  with  alternate 
breadths  of  blue  and  yellow  damask  the  flowers  of  the 
pattern  being  embroidered,  perchance  by  the  ladies  of  the 
family  as  a  work  of  piety. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  TUSCAN   \ILL.\  OF  THE  SK\E.\TEE.\TH   CEXTL'RV 


te^""^-^! 

i 

^ffi^-^ay^s:! 

HEl  seventeenth  century  brings  us  face 
to  face  with  the  Baroque  movement 
in  the  full  tide  of  its  imposing 
course.  The  seven  villas  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century  illustrated  in  detail  in 
this  volume  are  all  typically  Baroque 
in  their  external  aspect — Poggio 
Torselli,  La  Pietra,  Palmieri,  Le  Maschere,  Cetinale,  the 
Villa  Garzoni  at  Collodi,  and  the  Villa  Corsi-Salviati  at 
Sesto.  Three  of  them,  Palmieri,  La  Pietra  and  the  Villa 
Corsi-Salviati,  antedate  this  era,  but  were  enlarged,  embel- 
lished, and  given  an  wholly  new  exterior  character  during 
the  period  of  building  activity  that  marked  the  seventeenth 
century.  Much  of  Palmieri  really  belongs  to  the  thirteenth 
century,  -while  La  Pietra  dates  in  large  part  from  the 
fifteenth.  Their  outward  appearance,  however,  by  which 
the  visitor  is  first  impressed,  is  so  essentially  Baroque  that  it 
seems  best  to  reckon  them  architecturally  amongst  the  villas 
of  the  later  age. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  enter  into  a  general  discussion  of 
the  merits  or  shortcomings  of  the  Baroque  style.  It  is  far 
too  large  a  subject  and  presents  too  many  aspects  for  con- 
sideration. It  will  be  enough  to  observe  that  the  narrow 
purist,  whose  conventional  and  unquestioned  training  has 
taught  him  to  regard  the  very  name  Baroque  as  anathema, 
will  find  in  the  examples  here  illustrated  none  of  those  hys- 
terical and  unreasoned  manifestations  which  even  the  most 
dispassionate  critic  would  not  attempt  to  defend  or  justify, 
manifestations  which  it  must  be  admitted  have  brought 
discredit  upon  the  style.  The  force  of  intellectual  restraint 
in  architectural  expression  was  always  too  strong  in  Tuscany 
to  countenance  any  of  the  excesses  of  riotous  sentimentality 
and  perfervid  emotionalism  that  elsewhere  occur  occasion- 

45 


46  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

ally  and  provoke  a  sense  of  repulsion.  Our  bias  of  tempera- 
ment may  cause  us  to  prefer  other  styles,  but  in  common 
justice  we  are  bound  to  admit  that  the  Tuscan  examples  of 
the  Baroque  manner  are  sober  and  dignified  in  their  utter- 
ance, and  that  they  constitute  a  valid  claim  disposing  us  to 
examine  fairly  and  appraise  candidly  the  real  values  of  the 
style,  acknowledging  those  particulars  in  which  we  are 
to-day  indubitably  its  debtors. 

There  is  no  mistaking  the  outward  difference  in  type 
between  characteristic  villas  of  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries.  Even  the  most  casual  observer  cannot  fail 
to  be  conscious  of  their  dissimilar  aspect.  It  is  one  of  the 
distinctive  properties  of  Baroque  architecture  that  no  one  in 
its  vicinity  can  escape  being  aware  of  its  presence.  Its 
details  catch  the  eye  and  compel  attention;  the  ensemble 
demands  recognition  by  its  dominating  mass  and  the  pro- 
portion of  its  parts. 

In  plan  the  seventeenth  century  Tuscan  villa  usually 
presented  a  compact  rectangular  block,  either  oblong  or  ap- 
proximating a  square.  Poggio  Torselli  (Plate  194),  Le 
Maschere  (Plate  256)  and  Garzoni  (Plate  262),  for  ex- 
ample, are  oblong  in  their  plan  measurements.  Cetinale 
(Plate  246),  on  the  other  hand,  is  virtually  square.  That 
Palmieri  retains  the  cortilc  as  a  part  of  its  scheme  is  to  be 
attributed  to  the  fact  of  its  expansion  from  an  older  nucleus 
rather  than  to  any  architectural  preference  distinctive  of  the 
time  in  which  the  addition  was  made.  The  same  may  be 
said  with  respect  to  La  Pietra.  There,  however,  in  modern 
times,  the  rorfi/e  has  been  roofed  over  with  glass  thus 
making  a  light,  enclosed  court  in  which  a  spacious  winding 
staircase  ascends  to  the  first  floor.  The  rooms  in  this  type  of 
villa  are  all  commodious  and  exceedingly  lofty  and  the  total 
height  of  the  building  is  apt  to  be  considerably  greater  than 
was  the  case  with  most  of  the  earlier  villas. 

The  walls  are  customarily  of  stone  coated  with  stucco — 
umber,  grey,  or  of  the  elusive  colour  already  alluded  to — the 
gelosie  or  shutters  are  still  painted  a  light,  merry  green,  and 


THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  47 

the  roofs  arc  still  covered  with  red  tiles.  But  there  is  a  differ- 
ence. The  walls  are  often  covered  from  top  to  bottom  with 
large  panels  or  other  bold  designs,  vigorously  indicated  by 
broad  bands  of  a  deeper  or  contrasting  hue,  executed  by  what 
is  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  syrafitto  process,  sometimes 
exhibiting  an  appreciable  projection.  Characteristic  in- 
stances of  this  manner  of  exterior  wall  decoration  are  to  be 
seen  at  Le  Maschere  (Plate  260),  on  the  wings  of  Poggio 
Torselli  (Plates  197  and  198),  and  at  the  Villa  Palmieri 
( Plate  238) .  The  broad,  overhanging  eaves  no  longer  appear 
and  in  their  stead  we  see  well  organised  entablatures  with 
strong  cornices  crowning  the  walls.  The  overhanging  eaves, 
without  entablature  or  cornice,  remain  at  the  Villa  Palmieri, 
but  then,  as  was  previously  explained,  Palmieri  is  funda- 
mentally a  much  older  structure  and  may  reasonably  be 
expected  to  disclose  archaic  features. 

The  doorways  and  window  architraves  are  still  of  pictrn 
seretia,  but  for  the  general  creation  of  a  striking  effect  much 
more  reliance  is  placed  in  stuccoed  projections  which  take 
the  form  of  conspicuous  pediments  above  the  windows, 
quoins  at  the  angles  or  pilasters  extending  the  full  height  of 
the  facade,  brackets  and  other  details  pertaining  to  the  en- 
tablatures and  cornices,  and  such  other  kindred  adornments 
of  the  adept  stiiccnfore  as  scrolls  and  cartouches.  In  addition 
to  the  items  just  enumerated,  there  is  a  noticeable  bursting 
forth  of  such  consciously  architectural  adjuncts  as  balconies, 
balustrades,  parapets  surmounted  by. statuary  and  imposing 
exterior  staircases.  The  dependencies,  though  often  massed 
in  conjunction  with  the  master's  dwelling,  are  masqued  as 
subsidiary  parts  of  the  main  house  and  are  disposed  with  due 
regard  to  a  definite  sense  of  architectural  composition.  This 
manner  of  treatment  we  see  exemplified  at  both  Poggio 
Torselli  (Plate  194),  and  the  Villa  Corsi-Salviati  (Plate 
279),  while  at  La  Pietra  the  dependencies  are  separated 
from  the  house  by  the  length  of  the  walled  garden.  For  good 
instances  of  the  other  external  characteristics  alluded  to  we 
may  turn  to  Cetinale,  with  its  garden  staircase  (Plate  251), 


48  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

Le  Maschere  (Plate  255)  and  the  Villa  Garzoni  (Plate 
263),  with  the  striking  approaches  to  their  principal  en- 
trances, and  the  Villa  Corsi-Sahnati  with  its  bclvcderi, 
balustrades,  and  statue-surmounted  parapets  (Plate  271). 

Entering  within  the  house,  the  critical  observer  will  dis- 
cover that  the  plan  has  gradually  become  somewhat  more 
obvious  in  its  general  arrangements,  and  that  an  increased 
emphasis  has  been  laid  upon  the  importance  of  the  salonc  or 
great  hall.  Furthermore,  there  is  greater  stress  upon  a  bal- 
anced, symmetrical  disposition  of  the  various  rooms  with  a 
due  regard  to  axial  lines.  An  examination  of  the  illustra- 
tions and  plan  of  Poggio  Torselli  (Plate  194)  will  shew  the 
principles  of  design  just  noted.  A  broad  and  lofty  entrance 
hall  leads  directly  from  the  house-door  to  a  still  more  lofty 
salonc  whose  height,  in  fact,  extends  to  the  top  of  the  mez- 
zanine floor.  This  is  a  room  of  truly  noble  proportions.  It 
is  50  feet  long,  30  feet  wide,  and  25  feet  high. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  villa  we  find  also  that  the 
staircase  has  attained  the  full  growth  of  its  dignity  as  a 
feature  commanding  the  bestowal  of  architectural  efTort.  It 
is  unfortunately  difficult  to  secure  satisfactory  photographs 
of  many  of  these  staircases  owing  to  the  technical  limitations 
of  photography  and  the  fact  that  the  photographer  must 
needs  have  some  appropriate  point  of  vantage  on  which  to 
plant  his  camera.  The  staircase  at  Poggio  Torselli  (Plate 
199),  however,  is  an  happy  exception  in  point  of  this  too 
frequent  difficulty,  and  from  the  illustration  we  may  see  the 
dignity  and  breadth  of  staircase  treatment  characteristic  of 
the  period.  The  entire  construction  is  of  grey  pictra  screna 
and  constitutes  a  beautiful  and  restrained  example  of  seven- 
teenth century  design — Baroque  design  in  one  of  its  best 
phases.  The  staircase  at  La  Pietra  (Plate  222)  is  of  modern 
construction,  but  the  singularly  felicitous  design  of  the  metal 
balustrade  is  taken  from  an  old  model,  so  that  it  may  be 
regarded  as  thoroughly  representative  of  the  epoch. 

Fireplaces  and  doorways  claimed  no  less  decorative  em- 
phasis than  they  did  in  previous  periods  but  the  manner  of 


THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  49 

expressing  that  emphasis  was  changed,  a  change  reflected 
as  well  in  the  external  phenomena  to  which  allusion  has 
been  made.  Stone  served  the  utilitarian  purposes  of  con- 
struction, but  when  it  came  to  the  exercise  of  embellishment 
we  find  another  medium  very  frequently  preferred.  That 
medium  was  stucco  or  plaster.  It  cannot  be  said  that  the 
plastic  sense  of  Italian  craftsmen  had  increased,  or  had  de- 
veloped in  an  wholly  new  direction,  or  was  in  need  of  a  new 
field  of  expression.  It  was  merely  that  the  channel  ni  appli- 
cation had  shifted  and  that  styles  had  changed.  The  prefer- 
ences of  taste  in  the  seventeenth  century  prescribed  that 
where  hitherto  the  stone  carver  had  been  wont  to  display  his 
cunning  in  the  graceful  enrichment  of  doorways  and  fire- 
places the  plasterer  or  stuccatore  should  now  ply  his  art. 
And  ply  his  art  the  plasterer  did  with  lavish  generosity 
and  the  nimblest  dexterity. 

It  was  not  only  the  fireplaces  and  doorways  upon  which 
the  stuccatore  disclosed  his  fertile  ingenuity  and  mastery  of 
hand.  The  medium  that  proved  so  alluring  and  so  ready  of 
manipulation  for  these  features  was  likewise  turned  to 
account  in  a  far  broader  field.  Walls  and  ceilings  alike 
bourgeoned  forth  in  an  opulent  luxuriance  of  flamboyant 
tendrils,  leafage  and  flowers  interspersed  with  looped  dra- 
peries, aniorini,  vases  and  urns.  The  same  accommodating 
material  served  for  the  craftsman  to  model  pediments,  busts, 
emblems  of  divers  sorts,  and  sundry  architectural  adjuncts 
to  dignify  the  overdoor  spaces;  from  the  same  obedient  com- 
position he  likewise  moulded  great  cartouches  with  armorial 
bearings  and  all  the  attendant  panoply  of  mantlings  and 
interlacing  strapwork.  The  salone  of  Poggio  Torselli 
( Plates  200  and  201 )  supplies  us  with  an  illuminating  speci- 
men of  this  method  of  decoration.  It  needs  but  a  glance  to 
see  the  radical  difference  between  this  freer  and  more  florid 
mode  of  adornment  and  the  motifs  and  technique  employed 
in  the  ornamentation  of  the  barrel  vaulted  ceiling  in  the 
great  salone  at  Poggio  a  Cajano  (Plate  125)  or  in  the  cof- 
fered vaulting  of  the  loggia  (Plate  121)  at  the  same  place. 


so  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

Brick  flooring  of  the  kind  before  described  was  still  used 
to  a  great  extent.  Stone,  marble,  and  tiling  were  likewise 
employed  and  were  often  so  disposed  as  to  produce  no  in- 
considerable diversity  of  colour  and  pattern.  Terrazzo,  too, 
proved  itself  a  medium  of  numerous  possibilities  and  with 
it  the  ready-witted  craftsman  managed  to  execute  results 
that  were  effective  alike  in  colour  and  design.  Parquetry 
floors,  also,  must  be  numbered  amongst  the  resources  at  the 
disposal  of  the  seventeenth  century  villa  architect. 

The  old  beamed  and  painted  ceilings  and  the  ceilings 
with  lunette  vaulting  and  pendentives  had  yielded  place  to 
the  coved  ceiling  whose  shape  gave  freer  scope  for  the  in- 
ventions of  the  stuccatore  and  also  provided  a  less  broken  field 
for  the  execution  of  the  type  of  frescoes  in  accord  with  the 
genius  of  the  period.  With  the  dominance  of  the  coved 
ceiling  came  also  an  elaboration  of  the  cornice  which  pro- 
vided a  definite  boundary  line  between  the  space  overhead 
and  the  walls.  The  lunette  vaulted  ceiling  of  the  salonc  at 
La  Pietra  (Plate  223)  is  an  edifying  instance  of  how  the 
Baroque  stuccatore  made  a  virtue  of  necessity  and  adapted 
his  methods  to  a  case  in  which  he  was  obliged  to  comply  with 
the  structural  types  of  an  earlier  period.  It  was  the  policy 
of  Cardinal  Capponi,  or  of  his  architect,  when  the  villa  was 
remodelled  about  1690,  to  destroy  as  little  as  possible  of  the 
old  work  and  to  add,  instead,  such  touches  as  would  bring 
it  into  accord  with  the  reigning  mode.  The  adroit  Baroque 
craftsman  was  not  to  be  dismayed  by  such  an  arbitrary  limi- 
tation and  promptly  devised  a  treatment  which  bears  the 
hall-mark  of  the  date  of  execution  and  is  still  in  harmony 
with  the  structural  form  retained. 

When  the  walls  were  not  adorned  with  elaborate  stucco 
conceits,  with  hangings,  or  with  rich  fabrics  applied  to  their 
whole  surface  they  offered  an  excellent  ground  for  frescoes 
or  paintings.  When  some  large  and  important  religious, 
allegorical,  mythological,  or  historical  subject  was  not 
depicted,  or  when  the  space  was  not  given  up  to  a  sym- 
metrical array  of  arabesques  after  the  school  of  Berain,  the 


;l 


52 


THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  53 

painter  not  infrequently  laid  off  the  surface  of  the  wall  in 
panels  and  therein  pourtrayed  hunting  scenes  or  pictured 
the  villas  and  gardens  of  the  neighbourhood.  One  room  in 
La  Pietra  contains  representations  of  a  number  of  the  other 
villas  belonging  to  members  of  the  Capponi  family.  Like- 
wise at  Poggio  Torselli  and  Le  Corti,  which  contains  some 
seventeenth  century  decorations,  we  find  the  villas  them- 
selves and  their  surrounding  grounds  as  they  then  appeared 
recorded  on  the  wails.  Here  again  it  was  no  unusual  thing 
for  the  plasterer  to  shew  his  hand  and  model  fanciful  frames 
on  the  wall  to  enclose  the  pictures,  so  that  one  feels  he  is 
almost  omnipresent  and  is  tempted  to  style  the  seventeenth 
century  the  "  plastic  period  "  or  "  The  Age  of  Plaster." 


CHAPTER  IV 


DECORATION  AND  FURNISHING 

lO  CONCEPTION  of  the  Tuscan  villas 
'  would  be  complete  without  some  notice 
of  the  fixed  interior  decoration  and  the 
methods  of  furnishing  employed,  the 
stage  setting,  in  other  words,  of  the  life 
lived  within  their  walls.  Such  notice 
is  especially  necessary  where  the  back- 
ground was  so  highly  coloured  as  it  often  was  in  the  earlier 
part  of  the  period  covered  by  our  examination.  And  after 
all  the  everyday  things,  the  little  details  that  historians 
usually  omit  to  mention,  count  for  a  great  deal  in  roundmg 
out  one's  mental  pictures.  Accounts  of  such  minutiae  are 
not  a  mere  record  of  upholstery,  devoid  of  any  special  inter- 
est or  significance.  The  furniture  and  other  interior  equip- 
ment of  any  given  period  alTord  an  intimate  index  to  that 
period's  mentality  and  culture:  in  fact,  they  are  often  more 
than  that.  Read  aright,  they  often  give  an  insight  into  the 
ideals  and  spiritual  condition. 

It  is  fitting,  then,  that  we  should  review  in  some  detail  the 
general  characteristics  of  walls,  ceilings,  windows,  door- 
ways, doors,  fireplaces  and  other  items  constituting  the  fixed 
background,  paying  special  attention  to  the  methods  of 
embellishment  employed,  and  then  pass  on  to  a  brief  consid- 
eration of  the  movables  in  ordinary  use. 

The  structural  forms  of  the  ceilings  have  already  been 
noted  so  that  on  that  score  little  remains  but  to  add  some  brief 
elucidatory  comment  with  respect  to  certain  particulars 
not  previously  dwelt  upon.  In  some  of  the  older  villas  one 
finds  occasional  instances  of  cross  vaulting  in  ground  floor 
rooms  or  passages,  a  type  much  favoured  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  but  as  a  rule  the  cross  vaulting  occurs  in  loggias,  while 
the  lunette  vaulting,  more  popular  in  Renaissance  times,  was 
used  for  rooms,  thus  aflfording  a  greater  uninterrupted  sur- 

55 


S6  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

face  overhead.  The  barrel  vault  was  used  for  passageways 
and  staircases.  In  the  Villa  Capponi,  at  Arcetri,  the  entrance 
hall  (Plate  62)  is  barrel-vaulted,  while  the  continuation 
beyond  and  the  cross  hall  are  cross-vaulted.  In  this  case  the 
cross  vaulting  is  only  approximately  semi-cylindrical  in 
section,  but  such  irregularities  are  rather  the  rule  than  the 
exception  in  old  Italian  houses,  especially  old  Tuscan  houses. 
There  is  said  to  be  an  ancient  Tuscan  superstition  that  the 
devil  can  enter  only  rooms  that  are  absolutely  symmetrical 
in  all  their  measurements,  and  this  belief  is  sometimes  held  to 
account  for  the  amazing  inequalities  one  encounters  in 
measuring  the  early  villas.  At  the  Villa  Capponi,  for 
example,  there  are  many  rooms  without  any  two  sides  par- 
allel, as  one  may  see  by  the  ground  floor  plan  (Plate  59). 
Whether  or  not  the  superstition  alluded  to  be  really  one  of 
the  causes,  the  same  condition  obtains  elsewhere  to  a  degree 
sufficient  to  drive  a  Beaux  Arts-trained  architect  distracted. 

Ceilings  and  walls  were  either  left  plain  or  else  received 
a  polychrome  decoration,  in  whole  or  in  part.  As  early  as 
the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  we  know  from  a  passage  in 
Dante's  Vita  Nitova,  alluding  to  a  room  surrounded  by  a 
picture,  that  it  was  not  unusual  to  decorate  walls  with  fres- 
coes. Boccaccio  also  makes  frequent  allusion  to  rooms 
adorned  with  frescoes.  By  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century 
we  know  that  the  practice  was  firmly  established.  Such 
mural  paintings  may  be  divided  into  several  categories — 
geometrical  motifs,  decorations  executed  in  free-hand  de- 
signs, single  figures,  and  scenes  and  histories  introducing 
many  personages. 

Amongst  the  geometrical  motifs  one  finds  such  patterns 
as  chevrons  or  herring-bone  bands  of  alternate  green  and 
violet,  or  violet  and  blue;  patterns  of  interlacing  lines  and 
curves  in  arrangements  of  more  or  less  intricacy  and 
wrought  in  sundry  colours;  and  divers  combinations  of 
quatrefoils,  squares,  rosettes  and  bands.  A  bit  of  such  wall 
decoration  appears  in  one  of  the  illustrations  of  the  Villa 
Palmieri.      The    mural    paintings    shewn    at    Cafaggiuolo 


57 


SECllON   OF  FOURTEENTH  CENTURY  GEOMETRICAL  WALL  PAINTING — VILLA  PALMIERI. 
SAN   DOMENICO.   NEAR   FLORENCE 


EARLY   FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  CKEIH  \,    i    vv  I  I  rl    IN  1  ARSL\   llhA  oK  \1  h/N 
LA    PIETRA.    IL   PELLK(;K  INC),    FLORENCE 


58 


3^y 


H 


^Lx^ji^y: '_'- 


mjmmu^MJ'^m^^ 


SECTION  OF   FOURTEENTH    CENTURY    WALL    PAINTING   FROM    HOUSE    FORMERLY    IN    MERCATO 
VECCHIO   FLORENCE — NOW  IN  MUSEUM  OF  SAN   MARCO 


NtJi 


1'  i- 


GEOMETRICAL  GARDEN  PLAN— FROM      L'ARCHITETTURA'  OF  SERLIO 


DECORATION  AND  FURNISHING  59 

(Plates  115  and  116)  are  not  the  original  decorations,  but 
restorations  carefully  executed  after  old  models.  Inci- 
dentally they  illustrate  the  manner  in  which  it  was  custom- 
ary to  introduce  heraldic  bearings.  Sometimes  the  whole 
wall  surface  was  divided  up  into  squares  like  a  chequer 
board  with  armorial  blasonings  in  alternating  squares,  the 
other  spaces  being  filled  with  geometrical  motifs. 

At  times  the  whole  ceiling,  starting  from  the  spring  of 
the  pendentives  at  the  corbels,  would  be  painted  blue  and 
powdered  over  with  stars  and  fleur-de-lys  of  gold,  with 
shields  here  and  there  bearing  the  arms  of  the  family  and  its 
connexions.  Again,  the  spandrels  between  the  arches  of  the 
vaulting  might  be  filled  with  conventional  or  geometrical 
devices  while  the  uninterrupted  field  of  the  ceiling  above 
would  be  devoted  to  the  depiction  of  some  large  subject. 

Amongst  the  designs  executed  free  hand  one  may  find 
such  schemes  as  dififerent  sorts  of  emblems  and  foliage  com- 
bined with  geometrical  bands;  thin  red  lines  dividing  the 
wall  space  into  squares  in  which  stand  out  bunches  of  con- 
ventional flowers,  alternately  green  and  bluish  on  a  grey 
ground,  or  green  on  a  light  ground;  a  composition  of  trees 
and  painted  draperies  consisting  of  a  succession  of  the  richest 
mantles  of  miniver  fastened  up  around  the  entire  room  in  the 
manner  of  magnificent  hangings,  a  garden  of  flowers  stretch- 
ing away  behind  the  suspended  mantles,  and  in  the  farther 
distance  trees  with  close-clipped  foliage,  laden  with  fruit, 
amongst  whose  branches  flit  little  birds  of  gayest  plumage. 
Such  was  a  typical  motif  of  decoration  which  admitted  of 
numerous  variations.  Sometimes,  instead  of  miniver,  the 
mantles  are  of  blue  stufT  powdered  with  silver  fleur-de-lys, 
or  brown  bedecked  with  vine  tendrils  or  embellished  with 
shields;  sometimes  the  draperies  hang  from  horizontal  rods 
supported  by  hooks  attached  to  the  trunks  of  the  trees; 
sometimes  they  are  fastened  to  the  wall  at  regular  intervals 
folding  between  one  point  and  another  in  the  manner  of 
ample  festoons.  And  the  trees  stand  forth  now  against  a  clear 
sky,  now  under  the  arches  of  an  elegant  loggia.    Not  infre- 


6o  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

quently  a  mural  scheme  of  this  sort  is  surmounted  by  a  frieze 
of  foliage,  legend  bearing  scrolls  and  shields.  With  the 
other  previously  mentioned  schemes,  likewise,  a  frieze  was 
often  used,  especially  when  there  was  a  flat  beamed  ceiling. 

At  other  times  the  decoration  might  take  the  form  of 
landscapes  or  garden  scenes.  A  fragment  of  such  a  garden 
scene,  though  faint,  is  still  discernible  within  the  loggia  of 
the  Villetta  at  San  Domenico  (Plate  88).  The  garden  is 
surrounded  by  an  hedge  or  vine-clad  wall  with  undulating 
top,  surmounted  by  pots  with  laurel  trees  or  box,  and  on 
the  greensward  disports  itself  a  large  white  animal  too  in- 
distinct to  classify.  In  the  lunettes  within  the  same  loggia  are 
painted  shields  encircled  with  wreaths  and  backed  by  a  com- 
position of  ribbons,  fruit  and  flowers.  In  short,  there  was  no 
end  to  the  diversity  of  free-hand  schemes  employed,  nor  to 
the  degree  of  richness  that  might  be  expressed.  The  treat- 
ment of  single  figures  and  historic  scenes  is  sufficiently 
obvious  so  that  no  detailed  discussion  is  necessary. 

The  decoration  of  trees  and  draperies  sometimes  covered 
the  entire  wall,  sometimes  only  the  upper  part,  while  the 
lower  part  was  decorated  with  a  dado  of  wood  or  with  an- 
other painting  of  different  character,  as,  for  example,  a 
pattern  of  interlacing  red  and  blue  lines  on  a  grey  ground. 
The  mention  of  this  device  brings  us  to  the  whole  subject 
of  dados. 

Very  often  the  walls  were  faced  or  lined  with  wood  to 
the  height  of  three  braccia  or  more,  and  this  facing,  called 
a  spalliera,  served  as  both  a  back  and  background  for  certain 
pieces  of  furniture,  such  as  beds,  couches,  benches,  cup- 
boards and  chests  that  were  set  against  it.  In  the  fourteenth 
century  the  dados  were  for  the  most  part  of  simple  character, 
but  in  the  fifteenth  they  were  often  enriched  with  elaborate 
mouldings  and  inlay  and  became  an  important  item  in  the 
decoration  of  a  room.  In  order  to  render  the  dados  even 
more  ornate  it  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  to  enclose  painted 
panels  between  the  stiles  and  rails,  and  on  these  panels  some 
of  the  most  renowned  artists  bestowed  their  efforts.    When 


DECORATION  AND  FURNISHING  6i 

the  spallicra  of  wood  was  unadorned  it  was  possible  to  leave 
the  rest  of  the  wall  space  above  it  the  plain  colour  of  the 
plaster,  but  when  this  dado  was  enriched  with  intarsia  or 
painting  the  laws  of  good  taste  and  proportion  demanded  a 
corresponding  degree  of  decoration  above  it,  not  less  sumpt- 
uous but  somewhat  different  and  of  sufficient  contrast  in 
character.  Such  decoration  might  consist  of  frescoes,  of 
tapestries,  or  of  a  series  of  larger  painted  panels  enclosed 
within  stiles  and  rails  of  wood,  inlaid  or  carved  and  picked 
out  with  gilding,  thus  actually  forming  a  continuous  pan- 
elling extending  all  the  way  to  the  ceiling. 

How  excellent  many  of  these  mural  decorations  must 
have  been  we  may  well  imagine  when  we  remember  that  the 
greatest  artists  of  the  day  thought  no  scorn  of  working  upon 
them  and  lavished  their  genius  in  making  the  rooms  glow 
with  wealth  of  colour  and  grace  of  form.  How  glorious 
w^ere  some  of  the  villas  we  may  conjecture  from  the  two 
frescoes  (now  in  the  Louvre)  which  Botticelli  wrought  on 
the  wall  of  one  of  the  rooms  in  the  Villa  Lemmi,  near 
Careggi,  on  the  occasion  of  Giovanna  degli  Albizzi's  mar- 
riage with  Lorenzo  Tornabuoni  in  i486.  And  Botticelli's 
commission  was  only  one  of  many  similar  instances  in  which 
other  artists  figured. 

The  wooden  ceilings  were  of  two  kinds,  the  real  and  the 
false.  The  former  actually  supported  the  weight  of  the 
floor  above  and  displayed  the  structural  beams  and  joists. 
The  latter  was  contrived  for  decorative  values  and  displayed 
a  deeply  coffered  surface;  its  function  was  purely  orna- 
mental and  not  structural  as  it  was  attached  to  the  true  ceil- 
ing above.  In  the  true  ceilings  colour  and  gilding  were  ap- 
plied to  the  beams  and  joists  and  to  the  corbels  supporting 
the  beams  while  the  natural  surface  of  the  boarding  above 
was  for  the  most  part  undecorated.  Sometimes  the  whole 
beam  would  be  painted  in  pure  colours  with  conventional 
patterns,  at  other  times  only  the  edges  of  the  beams  would 
be  embellished. 

The  second  class  of  ceilings  were  much  more  ornate  in 


62  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

composition.  Oftentimes  they  were  richly  carved  in  addi- 
tion to  being  painted  and  gilt,  and  in  the  centre  of  each  cofTer 
would  appear  a  carved  rosette  or  some  other  bit  of  conven- 
tional sculpture.  Besides  all  this  combination  of  rich  carv- 
ing and  resplendent  colour  and  gilding,  it  was  customary  for 
a  ceiling  of  this  sort  to  be  supported  by  an  equally 
rich  cornice. 

In  the  foregoing  chapters  adequate  mention  has  been 
made  of  the  richly  carved  fireplaces  and  doorways,  wrought 
in  pietra  serena  and  sometimes  picked  out  with  a  little  red  or 
blue  and  a  few  touches  of  gilding,  but  it  remains  to  take  note 
of  the  doors  themselves.  These  were  often  divided  into 
square  panels,  usually  five  to  each  leaf,  and  embellished  with 
a  delicate  inlay.  The  inside  shutters  of  the  windows  were 
likewise  not  seldom  thus  enriched.  The  casements  were 
commonly  glazed  with  small  roundels  or  bulls-eyes. 

Tapestries,  and  wall  hangings  of  serge  or  of  heavy 
linen  stuff",  wrought  and  painted  in  divers  colours  and  pat- 
terns, were  used  to  a  considerable  extent,  sometimes  to  cover 
a  large  wall  space,  sometimes  to  cover  only  a  small  area 
back  of  a  chest  or  bench.  The  exact  manner,  or  rather  the 
variety  of  manners,  in  which  these  hangings  were  custom- 
arily used  can  be  more  satisfactorily  gathered  from  a  study 
of  the  contemporary  paintings  than  in  any  other  way.  At 
the  same  time,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  was  the  cus- 
tom of  the  period  to  use  a  great  number  of  hangings  and 
draperies  in  a  great  number  of  places  to  mark  festal 
occasions  while  under  ordinary  circumstances  most  of  them 
would  be  folded  up  and  put  away.  Velvets,  silks,  bro- 
cades and  damasks  were  used  to  some  extent  and  em- 
broideries also.  The  employment  of  such  sumptuous  deco- 
rations increased  during  the  sixteenth  century.  Leather, 
stamped  in  rich  patterns  and  embellished  with  colour  and 
gilt  or  silver,  was  likewise  occasionally  used. 

^^"ith  reference  to  the  brick  floors,  already  noticed,  it 
should  be  added  that  the  shape  and  arrangement  of  the 
bricks  were  not  always  the  same.     Besides  the  large  oblong 


DECORATION  AND  FURNISHING  63 

bricks,  previously  mentioned,  large  square  bricks  often 
served  for  paving.  Again,  some  floors  were  composed  of 
little  square  and  hexagonal  bricks  laid  in  a  geometrical 
design,  while  the  decorative  efifect  was  sometimes  heightened 
by  using  both  red  and  cream  coloured  bricks  in  alternating 
sequence.  In  other  schemes  of  paving  the  bricks  were  laid 
in  parallel  lines,  or  in  circles,  or  herring-bone  wise.  In 
addition  to  the  brick  paving,  there  occurred  now  and  again 
floors  of  marble,  of  a  few  varying  colours,  executed  in  a  large 
and  simple  geometrical  design.  Still  other  floors  were  laid 
with  brightly  coloured  glazed  tiles,  decorated  with  more  or 
less  elaborate  patterns  of  interlacing  lines  or,  perhaps,  with 
heraldic  figures.  Late  in  the  fifteenth  century  were  intro- 
duced maiolica  tiles  with  more  open  designs.  Notwith- 
standing the  divers  flooring  possibilities  just  enumerated, 
however,  the  ordinary  large  oblong  bricks  were  employed 
in  the  majority  of  cases. 

In  settings  like  these  described,  the  customary  comple- 
ment of  movable  furniture  included  such  articles  as  cassoni 
or  chests,  cupboards,  benches,  crcdcnze,  tables,  stools  and 
chairs.  At  first  glance  this  may  seem  but  a  meagre  inventorv, 
but  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  each  article  mentioned 
in  reality  appeared  under  a  considerable  diversity  of  forms. 
Of  cassoni,  for  example,  there  were  numerous  varieties  of 
shapes  and  sizes;  there  were  equally  numerous  modes  of 
decoration,  and  they  served  the  widest  possible  range  of  pur- 
poses. Apart  from  their  diversity  of  size  and  shape,  some 
stood  flat  on  the  floor  with  only  a  moulded  base,  others  had 
feet,  and  some  were  raised  on  stands.  All  served  as  recep- 
tacles for  one  thing  or  another,  but  besides  this  they  sup- 
plied ample  seating  accommodation  and  the  longer  sort  were 
not  infrequently  used  as  beds  or  couches.  They  were  made 
of  walnut,  when  they  were  to  be  carved  or  inlaid,  and  of  the 
"  meaner  "  woods,  such  as  pine  or  cypress,  when  they  were 
to  be  painted  or  covered  with  pastiglla  decorations,  a  form 
of  stucco  or  composition  embellishment  in  low  relief  to 
which  colour  and  gilding  were  applied. 


64  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

The  fifteenth  and  early  sixteenth  century  painted  cassoni 
were  often  masterpieces  of  art  when  Botticelli,  Andrea  del 
Sarto,  Pesellino,  Piero  di  Cosimo  and  the  ablest  of  their 
pupils  worked  upon  them.  The  cassoni  enriched  with  carv- 
ing or  intarsia  were  often  wrought  with  equal  cunning  and 
presented  a  no  less  splendid  appearance.  Intarsia  work  was 
in  high  favour  during  the  fifteenth  century,  but  as  the  si.\- 
teenth  century  advanced  the  preference  seems  to  have 
swerved  more  to  carving.  The  character  of  the  carving,  too, 
changed  somewhat  as  the  sixteenth  century  wore  on — the 
relief  was  bolder  and  more  assertive  and  although  the  work- 
manship was  of  the  finest  quality,  there  was  some  loss  of 
the  delicate  refinement  that  characterised  the  earlier  pieces. 
What  has  been  said  specifically  of  cassoni  also  applies  in  a 
comprehensive  way  to  the  other  usual  articles  of  furniture 
as  well. 

Before  the  sixteenth  century  chairs  were  not  nearly  so 
numerous  as  they  were  at  a  later  period.  The  types  usually 
occurring  before  the  Cinquecento  were  the  seJia  Dantesca 
or  the  sedia  Savonarola,  which  had  arms,  and  the  armless 
stjabello,  which  was  really  a  sort  of  glorified  milking  stool 
with  an  high  back  and  profuse  enrichment  of  carving.  Stools 
and  benches  and  the  tops  of  cassoni  afi"orded  most  of  the 
seating  accommodation.  In  the  Cinquecento,  however, 
chairs  became  increasingly  numerous.  The  high  and 
straight-backed  armchairs,  with  straight  arms,  runner  feet, 
square  seats  covered  with  velvet,  and  a  piece  of  velvet 
stretched  between  the  backposts,  are  one  of  the  types  we 
always  associate  with  this  era.  There  are  some  who  think 
they  appear  uncomfortable.  They  are  uncomfortable  if  not 
used  aright.  They  were  designed  to  be  used  with  footstools, 
and  when  so  used  they  prove  exceedingly  comfortable. 

There  was  one  quality  that  Renaissance  Italian  furniture 
possessed  in  an  eminent  degree.  It  was  essentially  adaptable 
and  always  looked  equal  to  the  occasion  whether  it  stood 
against  a  severely  plain  and  austere  background  or  whether 
it  was  placed  in  a  sumptuous  environment.     In  the  former 


DECORATION  AND  FURNISHING  65 

case  it  had  sufficient  substance  and  dignity  to  impart  ele- 
gance to  the  entire  composition;  in  the  latter,  it  was  rich 
enough  or  possessed  of  sufficient  contrast  to  make  it  fit  in 
perfectly  as  a  part  of  the  scheme.  Even  the  simpler  pieces, 
made  by  nameless  craftsmen,  were  informed  by  the  same 
spirit  of  refinement  and  just  proportion.  In  this  connexion 
one  cannot  do  better  than  remember  what  John  Addington 
Symonds  wrote  a  propos  of  the  innate  sense  of  beauty  with 
which  the  whole  nation  appears  at  this  time  to  have  been 
endowed.  "The  speech  of  the  Italians  at  that  epoch,"  he 
observes,  "  their  social  habits,  their  ideals  of  manners,  their 
standard  of  morality,  the  estimate  they  formed  of  men,  were 
alike  conditioned  and  qualified  by  art.  It  was  an  age  of 
splendid  ceremonies  and  magnificent  parade,  when  the 
furniture  of  houses,  the  armour  of  soldiers,  the  dress  of  citi- 
zens, the  pomp  of  war,  and  the  pageantry  of  festivals  were 
invariably  and  inevitably  beautiful.  On  the  meanest  articles 
of  domestic  utility,  cups  and  platters,  door  panels  and  chim- 
ney-pieces, coverlets  for  beds  and  lids  of  linen  chests,  a  wealth 
of  artistic  invention  was  lavished  by  innumerable  craftsmen, 
no  less  skilled  in  technical  details  than  distinguished  by 
rare  taste." 

Of  the  seventeenth  century  and  its  modes  of  decoration 
not  a  little  was  said  in  Chapter  III.  Some  further  reference, 
however,  must  be  made  to  the  lavish  stucco  embellishments 
which  it  was  the  custom  of  the  period  to  apply  to  walls  and 
ceilings.  Adroit  as  some  of  these  intricate  decorations  were 
in  execution,  and  excellent  as  their  modelling  often  was,  the 
innate  Italian  love  of  colour  sought  satisfaction  in  applying 
pigment  and  gilding  to  the  forms  produced  by  the  stucratorc. 
Some  of  the  results  effected  by  this  means  were  truly  admi- 
rable and  of  imposing  magnificence;  others  were  overdone 
and  merely  "  splendacious  "  ;  others,  again,  afiforded  amusing 
instances  of  how  the  stucco  craftsman,  led  astray  by  the 
tempting  and  dangerous  facility  in  manipulating  a  new- 
found toy,  might  be  betrayed  into  startling  absurdities. 

As  a  case  in  point,  there  is  a  ceiling  in  a  certain  villa  near 
5 


66  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

Florence  in  the  decoration  of  which  stuccatore  and  painter 
have  vied  with  each  other  over  a  piece  of  extremely  complex 
composition.  The  painter  in  executing  a  large  panel  inad- 
vertently ran  into  a  snag.  An  adipose  cupid,  reclining  upon 
a  bed  of  clouds  and  flowers  was  threatened  with  the  ampu- 
tation of  one  of  his  feet  by  the  stucco  frame  enclosing  the 
panel.  Thereupon  the  stuccatore  obligingly  added  a  plaster 
ancle  and  foot  which  nonchalantly  project  into  space. 

The  doors  of  this  period,  no  less  than  those  of  a  preceding 
age,  oflfered  an  inviting  field  to  the  decorator  and  some  of  the 
results  achieved  in  this  direction  were  really  admirable  in 
their  eflfect.  On  one  side,  panels  enclosed  by  heavy  mould- 
ings often  contained  small  landscapes  of  excellent  quality; 
on  the  other,  the  plain  battened  surface  was  covered  with  an 
engaging  pattern  of  foliage  and  birds. 

In  this  period,  too,  must  be  noted  the  prevalence  of  large 
and  richly  framed  mirrors,  intricately  devised  sconces  with 
crystal  pendants,  and  imposing  crystal  chandeliers  which 
occupied  places  of  honour  in  the  centres  of  lofty  hallways 
or  salont. 

The  movable  furniture  was  no  less  impressive  in  charac- 
ter than  were  the  fixed  surroundings.  The  greatly  increased 
use  of  upholstery  and  voluminous  hangings  at  doors  and 
windows  augmented  the  note  of  grandiose  brilliance  which, 
in  turn,  was  enhanced  by  the  heavily  carved  and  gilt  frames 
of  the  large  pictures  with  which  the  walls  were  hung.  The 
cassone  was  no  longer  a  favourite  and  much  used  piece  of 
furniture,  but  its  place  was  taken  by  a  multitude  of  costly 
cabinets,  escritoires  and  wardrobes,  while  the  seating  accom- 
modation that  it  had  erstwhile  afforded  was  supplied  by 
innumerable  chairs  and  settees  or  sofas,  many  of  which  were 
upholstered  in  gorgeous  damasks  or  with  stamped  leather. 
At  the  same  time,  an  wholly  new  vocabulary  of  decorative 
motifs,  or  new  adaptations  of  old  ones,  imparted  an  aspect  to 
seventeenth  century  rooms  utterly  dissimilar  from  those  of 
the  Renaissance  epoch. 


CHAPTER  V 


GARDENS  EARLY  AM)  LATE 


HE  garden  was  and  is  an  essential  part 
of  the  Tuscan  villa.  However  the  size 
■  >yi  it^ »  i\^-»w  "^  ^^^  garden  may  vary,  its  presence  is 
%^t^  S3v'^/f  indispensable.  It  must,  therefore,  re- 
ceive its  due  measure  of  attention  if  one 
is  to  form  anything  like  a  complete  con- 
ception of  our  subject.  Although  the 
gardens,  as  we  find  them  to-day,  are  full  of  charm  and  bear 
a  distinctive  character,  whether  they  be  large  or  small,  it 
must  be  understood  that  their  present  appearance  in  most 
cases  differs  widely  from  their  aspect  in  early  times. 

In  some  instances  restorations  have  been  effected — con- 
scientiously carried  out  according  to  the  precedents  of 
primitive  tradition:  in  others,  despite  the  modifications 
wrought  in  ihe  lapse  of  time  by  changing  garden  ideals, 
traces  of  the  ancient  scheme  are  still  discernible;  in  a  great 
number  of  others,  however,  the  visible  records  of  early  gar- 
den craft  have  been  either  wholly  obliterated  or  so  much 
altered  by  later  manipulation  that  we  now  behold  little  save 
the  contrivances  of  a  period  when  foreign  practices  had 
attained  an  undue  ascendancy.  Barring  a  comparatively 
few  examples,  more  or  less  well  known,  the  earliest  Tuscan 
gardens  that  are  virtually  intact  date  from  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  in  not  a  few  of  even  these  may  be  found  the  evi- 
dences of  subsequent  alteration  that  one  cannot  but  regret. 

The  foreign  influence  just  alluded  to  which  wrought  such 
havoc  to  Italian  gardens,  not  only  in  Tuscany  but  elsewhere 
also,  and  snuffed  out  for  the  time  being  the  traditional  meth- 
ods of  Italian  garden  design,  was  the  craze  for  the  r/iardino 
inglesc.  This  passion  for  the  "  English  garden  "  spread 
to  France  and  then  throughout  the  length  and  breadth 
of  Italy,  like  a  pestilent  epidemic,  leaving  a  trail  of  infection 
as  it  went.    Consequently,  during  its  dominance  in  the  late 

67 


68  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

eighteenth  century  and  still  more  in  the  fore  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth, innumerable  fine  old  formal  gardens  were  sacrificed 
to  the  insensate  behests  of  current  fashion  and  a  pernicious 
obsession,  on  the  part  of  their  owners,  to  bring  them  into 
accord  with  the  mischievous  theories  of  artificial  landscap- 
ing or  "  natural  gardening  "  for  which  "  Capability  "  Brown 
had  been  mainly  responsible  in  the  first  instance. 

It  is  quite  bad  enough  and  sad  enough  to  think  of  the 
many  fair  gardens  in  England  that  were  ruthlessly  destroyed 
to  make  way  for  insipid  landscapes  and  grotesque  wilder- 
nesses upon  Brown's  rise  to  popularity  in  the  mid-eighteenth 
century.  When  to  this  chronicle  of  systematic  vandalism 
we.  add  the  tale  of  ruin  compassed  in  Italy  by  the  emulators 
of  Brown  and  his  school,  one's  wrathful  regret  knows  no 
bounds.  The  kindly  hand  of  time,  it  is  true,  and  luxuriant 
growth. together  have  accomplished  much  to  assuage  the  bit- 
terness of  a  long  past  catastrophe,  but  the  haunting  thought 
remains  of  what  might  have  been  had  not  the  fallacy  of  the 
(jiardino  inylcse  and  later  fallacies  emanating  from  the  same 
source  seized  the  owners  of  so  many  Italian  villas. 

Fortunately,  by  recourse  to  certain  reliable  sources,  we 
can  pretty  accurately  envision  the  villa  gardens  as  they 
were  prior  to  the  late  sixteenth  century  or  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth.  These  sources  include  (i)  contemporary 
descriptions  and  specific  literary  allusions;  (2)  contempor- 
ary paintings;  (3)  the  text  and  illustrations  of  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  century  books  treating  in  some  measure  of  the  art 
of  garden  design;  (4)  the  body  of  general  knowledge  con- 
cerning Classical  allusions  to  garden  matters  and  Classical 
descripions  of  gardens;  and,  (5)  finally,  the  remnants  of 
early  garden  work  still  remaining  to  us. 

Before  examining  the  testimony  supplied  by  these  sources 
of  information,  however,  it  will  be  in  order  to  sum  up  the 
conception  of  a  garden  that  obtained  in  Mediaeval  and  Ren- 
aissance Italy.  First  and  foremost,  a  garden  was  an  en- 
closed place  that  afiforded  protection  and  privacy.  For  such 
garden  traditions  as  were  kept  alive  during  the  troublous 


GARDENS  EARLY  AND  LATE       69 

Middle  Ages  we  must  thank  tlic  monastic  establishments. 
There  the  gardens  were  primarily  of  utilitarian  intent,  and 
though  some  slight  attention  may  have  been  paid  now  and 
then  to  the  culture  of  flowers  and  shrubbery,  the  ele- 
ment of  esthetic  satisfaction,  when  it  was  considered  at  all, 
was  altogether  subordinated  to  the  more  prosaic  require- 
ments of  cultivating  vegetables  and  simples  or,  if  space  per- 
mitted, the  additional  enterprise  of  growing  a  little  fruit. 
Secular  gardens  followed  the  fashion  of  the  monastic 
gardens. 

It  was  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world,  however,  that 
the  appeal  of  nature  and  the  open  should  be  keenly  felt  and 
that  the  element  of  delight  the  secular  garden  afforded 
should  be  more  and  more  emphasised  by  the  introduction  of 
features  that  would  minister  to  the  possessor's  pleasure. 
\\'hen  thus  by  little  and  little  the  secular  garden  had  acquired 
a  definite  and  distinct  status  as  a  place  of  recreation  and 
delight,  apart  from  its  erstwhile  purely  utilitarian  function, 
it  was  looked  upon  as  a  bit  of  nature  tamed  and  made  com- 
panionable, a  bit  of  outdoors  domesticated  and  made  (it  and 
accessible  for  daily  or  hourly  human  retreat  and  occupancy. 
It  was  inseparably  associated  with  the  dwelling,  and  by  vir- 
tue of  this  inseparable  association  and  its  middle  ground,  its 
transitional  stage,  between  house  and  outer  world,  it  was 
manifestly  appropriate  that  nature  should  be  restrained, 
ordered  and  embellished  by  man's  art.  It  was  evident  that 
by  such  ordering  and  restraint  the  greatest  benefit  and 
pleasure  could  be  derived  from  the  garden  space. 

This  intimate  conception  of  the  garden  as  a  thing  to  be 
lived  with  and  lived  in  on  friendly  terms,  a  thing  responsive 
to  loving  personal  care  and  unremitting  culture,  rather  than 
an  impersonal,  half-wild  thing  to  be  admired  from  a  dis- 
tance— a  thing  in  which  the  element  of  personal  care  and 
afifection  played  no  conscious  part — prevailed  during  all  the 
age  of  true  Italian  gardening.  Even  the  Baroque  Age,  with 
its  broad,  expansive  schemes  and  bold  planning  for  cfTect, 
witnessed  no  radical  alteration  of  this  conception,  but  rather 


70  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

a  logical  amplification  of  it.  The  personal  connexion  and 
the  essential  fact  of  the  garden's  ministry  to  personal  require- 
ments were  still  plainly  obvious  and  fundamental  motives. 
There  was  merely  an  expansion  of  scale  and  an  adaptation 
of  uninterrupted  tradition  to  the  increased  amplitude  in 
standards  of  living.  The  groves,  alleys,  and  hoschi  that  were 
introduced  were  only  accessory  extensions  and  incidental  to 
the  general  scheme  without  afifecting  the  primary  concep- 
tion. It  was  not  until  the  passion  for  the  giardino  inglcse 
spread  over  the  country  that  the  theories  of  "  natural 
gardening  "'  were  injected  as  an  alien  influence  into  Italian 
tradition,  an  influence  that  caused  its  misguided  devotees  to 
set  a  premium  upon  laboured  disorder  and  disjointed  irregu- 
larities, upon  feeble  imitations  of  untamed  nature,  and 
meretricious,  stage-set  shams  masquerading  as  the  handi- 
work of  God. 

Let  us  now  turn  for  a  moment  to  our  sources  for  the 
reconstruction  of  the  early  Renaissance  garden.  Boccaccio's 
description  of  the  garden  of  the  Villa  Palmieri  in  1348,  con- 
tained in  the  narrative  of  the  Third  Day,  indicates  that  it 
was  indeed  a  pleasant  place.  He  describes  a  walled  garden, 
"  coasting  on  one  side  of  the  Pallace,  and  round  enclosed 
with  high  mounted  walks."  Therein  were  "  walkes  and 
allyes  "  long  and  spacious,  "yet  directly  straite  as  an  ar- 
row, environed  with  spreading  vines,  whereon  the  grapes 
hung  in  copious  clusters."  In  other  words,  there  were 
arbours  or  pergolas.  "  In  the  middest  of  the  Garden,  was 
a  square  plot,  after  the  resemblance  of  a  Meadow,  flourishing 
with  high  grasse,  hearbes,  and  plants,  beside  a  thousand 
diversities  of  flowres."  There  were  also  orange  trees  set 
about  in  the  familiar  manner,  just  as  lemon  trees  and  orange 
trees  are  set  about  in  pots  to-day.  There  was  also  a 
"  Fountaine  of  white  Marble  "  with  a  gush  of  water,  and 
there  were  other  plays  of  water  besides.  In  short,  he  is 
describing  a  formal  parterre,  with  geometrically  arranged 
flower  borders  and  a  central  fountain,  such  as  we  see  in  con- 
temporary paintings. 


71 


EARLY  RENAISSANCE  GARDEN    SCENE  WITH  "BARREL  TOPPED"   PERGOLA.    ARCADE.    FOUNTAIN 
AND  FLOWERED  LAWN — SCHOOL  OF  BOTTICELLI.  UFFIZI  GALLERIES.    FLORENCE 


A. 


:f^  "^^ 


"BARREL-TOPPED"   PERGOLA.   ON     MARBLE   COLUMNS — FROM     THE 
HVPNEROTOMACHIA  POLIPHILI  OF  FRANCESCO  COLONNA 


72 


GARDENS  EARLY  A\D  LATE       73 

A  little  that  is  more  definitely  germane  to  our  particular 
subject  may  be  gathered  from  Pietro  Crescenzi,  whose  Opnx 
Riiraliiim  Conimodonim.  founded  upon  the  works  of  Cato, 
Varro,  Columella,  and  his  own  personal  observation,  though 
written  in  the  fourteenth  century,  was  not  printed  till  1471. 
In  the  eighth  chapter,  wlierein  the  author  writes  of  the  laving 
out  of  gardens,  he  recommends  that  small  orchards  and  gar- 
dens of  fruit  trees  and  herbs  pleasing  to  the  sight  be  square  in 
shape;  that  they  have  borders  planted  with  every  sort  of 
sweet-scented  herb;  that  the  paths  be  of  grass,  while  round 
about  and  against  the  wall  should  be  an  high  bank  of  earth, 
arranged  as  a  seat  and  covered  with  turf  and  blossoming 
plants;  and  that  pergolas  supporting  vines  be  employed  to 
give  a  cool  and  grateful  shade.  He  suggests  that  "  in  the 
middle  of  the  lawn  there  should  be  no  trees,  but  the  fresh 
level  of  the  grass  left  alone  in  a  pure  and  glad  air,  and  if 
possible  a  clear  fountain,  to  add  pleasure  and  gaiety  by  its 
beauty."  For  the  gardens  of  ordinary  persons  Crescen.zi 
advises,  besides,  a  surrounding  hedge  and  likewise  an  arbour 
or  trellis  bower  "  like  unto  a  pavilion."  He  also  contem- 
plates a  geometrical  plan  and  intersecting  paths.  With  his 
suggestions  for  the  et]uipment  of  royal  gardens  we  need  not 
at  this  point  concern  ourselves. 

The  description  of  Bernardo  Rucellai's  garden  at  Quar- 
acchi,  near  Florence,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth 
century  tells  us  of  "  a  pergola,  with  espaliers  of  box,  which 
goes  from  the  entrance  gate,"  and  of  a  "  great  viale,  straight 
and  shaded  by  trees,  which  goes  to  the  Arno  " — these  were 
the  principal  features  of  the  composition;  of  a  fish-pond,  an 
aspen  grove,  and  an  orderly  plantation  of  fir-trees;  of  per- 
golas or  arbours  with  both  rounded  tops  and  pointed  or 
gabled  tops;  of  "  oratories  "  and  garden  houses;  of  hedges 
of  flowers  and  espaliers  of  shrubbery,  of  garden  seats,  of  the 
glowing  colours  of  roses,  red  and  white,  and  of  sundry  other 
flowers  besides ;  of  a  loggetta  by  the  gate,  of  vases  for  flowers, 
of  carefully  arranged  vistas,  of  works  of  topiary  art;  of  a 


74  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

labyrinth,  and  of  a  little  green  mount  or  hillock  whence  one 
might  overlook  the  garden. 

A  careful  comparison  of  the  other  gardens  of  the  period. 
besides  disclosing  the  presence  of  such  features  as  those  just 
enumerated,  shews  an  endeavour  to  marshal  the  various  im- 
portant items  that  enter  into  the  composition  and  serve  as 
the  garden's  major  adornments  along  the  same  axial  line; 
the  first  successful  management  of  different  garden  levels  by 
means  of  terraces  and  steps,  and  the  resulting  contrivance  of 
hanging  gardens,  such  as  those  of  the  Villa  Medici,  at 
Fiesole,  or  at  Poggio  a  Cajano ;  besides  the  fountains,  already 
mentioned,  the  employment  of  other  architectonic  forms — 
the  loggetta,  the  loggia,  the  pavilion  of  one  type  or  ancnher, 
and  the  pergola  with  columns;  the  frequent  use  of  plastic 
forms,  such  as  ancient  statuary,  highly  ornamental  vases  and 
pots  for  flowers,  balustrades,  and  marble  seats  of  sundry 
patterns  and  various  degrees  of  elaboration;  careful  consid- 
eration of  the  aspect  of  the  surrounding  country  in  relation 
to  the  placing  of  the  garden  and  with  reference  to  the  pano- 
ramic views  to  be  obtained;  and,  finally,  the  appearance  of 
divers  surprises  and  pretty  conceits,  such  as  "  secret  gardens," 
fanciful  topiary  works,  labyrinths,  belvederes,  little  mounts 
to  command  views,  and  islets  in  miniature  lakes. 

Not  only  do  the  paintings  of  masters  like  Giotto,  Fra 
Angelico,  Ghirlandajo,  Benozzo  Gozzoli,  Pinturicchio, 
Botticelli,  Botticini,  Boccati,  Mantegna  and  many  more 
fully  confirm  the  existence  of  all  the  particulars  that  have 
been  noted  and  shew  how  they  were  used,  but  the  illumina- 
tions in  breviaries,  missals  and  other  books  add  ample  and 
explicit  corroboration.  For  example,  the  Grimani  Breviary 
depicts  a  walled  flower  garden  with  regularly  disposed  rec- 
tangular beds  separated  by  narrow  paths,  standard  trees 
trimmed  by  the  topiarist  into  formal  shapes,  and  pots  of 
flowers  characteristically  set  atop  the  wall.  Again,  a  bit  of 
ancient  and  half-obliterated  fresco  (Plate  88)  from  the 
loggia  walls  in  the  Villetta,  at  the  Villa  Palmieri,  shews  a 
section  of  garden  wall  surmounted  by  an  ornamental  vase 


75 


EARLY   RENAISSANCE  WALLED   GARDEN   WITH    FOUNTAIN  — FROM  THE 
BIRLIOTECA   ESTENSE,    MODENA 


EARLY   RENAISSANCE  WALLED    GARDES    WITH    PER<;OLA.  ARliOUR. 

FOUNTAIN   AND  SEATS — FROM    PIETRO 

CRESCENZrS     'AGRICOLTURA" 


'je 


-.-'4 


Photograph  by  Alinari 
SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  FOUNTAIN  AND    STEPS — VILLA  CORSINI.   CASTELLO 


cs^n^^B^j 


GEOMETRICAL  GARDEN    PLAN   WITH  GRASS,    FLOWER 

BEDS    AND    PATHS — FROM    THE  HYPNEROTOMACHIA 

POLIPHILI    OF  FRANCESCO  COLONNA 


GARDENS  EARLY  AND  LATE       77 

containing  a  clipped  box-tree,  inside  the  wall  a  thick  hedge 
whose  undulating  top  is  trimmed  in  the  traditional  Tuscan 
manner,  while  in  the  foreground  a  nondescript  white  animal 
disports  itself  upon  a  lawn  besprinkled  with  flowers. 

Amongst  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  century  authors  who 
mention  garden  design,  three  shed  especially  valuable  light 
upon  the  subject — Leon  Battista  Alberti,  in  his  Dc  Re 
.h'Jificatoria,  Francesco  Colonna,  in  his  Hypncrotoniachia 
Poliphili,  and  Serlio,  in  his  Architettura.  The  laying  out 
of  gardens  and  their  appropriate  architectural  adornments 
are  discussed,  and  we  are  furnished  with  numerous  illus- 
trations of  topiary  work,  treillage,  arbours,  garden  seats  and 
similar  embellishments  as  well  as  plans  for  geometrical  de- 
signs to  be  executed  as  parterres.  Rustic  grottoes,  adorned 
with  pebble  and  shellwork,  fountains  and  statuary,  are  also 
considered  and  advice  given  relative  to  their  placing  and 
construction. 

Some  of  the  gardens  illustrated  in  this  volume  will  aid 
the  reader  materially  in  forming  a  conception  of  early  Ren- 
aissance conditions,  but  care  must  be  taken  to  distinguish  the 
ancient  features  from  those  of  more  recent  contrivance.  At 
Cigliano  the  raised  beds  along  the  walls  and  before  the 
house,  retained  by  low  stone  copings  covered  with  ivy,  be- 
long to  the  ancient  scheme  and  are  the  direct  descendants  of 
the  old  Roman  torus  or  raised  bed — the  selfsame  feature 
alluded  to  by  Pietro  Crescenzi  as  "  an  high  bank  of  earth, 
arranged  as  a  seat  and  covered  with  turf  and  blossoming 
plants."  These  raised  beds  were  unquestionably,  at  one 
time,  used  as  seats  as  contemporary  paintings  and  illumina- 
tions shew.  The  great  pool  at  Cigliano  also  belongs  to  the 
original  scheme. 

The  box  parterre  or  pleasaunce  in  front  of  the  Villetta 
(Plate  83),  at  the  Villa  Palmieri,  and  the  walled  box  gar- 
den at  the  side  of  the  house,  graced  in  the  centre  by  a  fish- 
pool,  faithfully  represent  the  geometrical  methods  of  the 
early  Renaissance.  One  of  the  simplest  of  these  geometrical 
plans — a  lawn  intersected  by  straight,  box-edged  paths  con- 


78  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

verging  to  the  centre — may  be  seen  in  the  cloister  of  San 
Lorenzo,  in  Florence.  Good  examples  of  the  same  geomet- 
rical arrangement  are  also  to  be  seen  in  the  box  pleasaunce 
and  in  the  middle  and  lower  gardens  of  the  Villa  Capponi 
(Plate  59).  A  similar  instance  likewise  occurs  in  the  gar- 
den at  Le  Corti.  The  box  parterre  at  the  Villa  Paimieri 
(Plates  243  and  244)  shews  a  somewhat  more  elaborate  in- 
terpretation of  the  same  method. 

In  the  little  flower  gardens  at  Belcaro  (Plate  171)  and 
the  Villa  Celsa  (Plate  98)  we  see  the  time-honoured  geo- 
metrical system  applied  to  the  disposition  of  the  flower  plots 
or  borders.  It  must  be  admitted,  even  by  those  who  have 
little  sympathy  with  such  methods  of  planning,  that  the 
scheme  followed  has  the  manifest  advantage  of  getting  the 
greatest  possible  results  out  of  a  limited  space. 

What  the  old  garden  arrangements  were  like  at  Poggio 
a  Cajano  and  Cafaggiuolo  may  be  gathered  to  some  extent 
from  the  respective  illustrations  which  are  reproduced  from 
old  paintings.  Since  the  paintings  were  executed  consider- 
able alterations  in  garden  treatment  have  occurred  at 
both  places. 

At  Vicobello,  which  was  originally  planned  by  Baldas- 
sare  Pcruzzi,  we  find  exemplified  a  more  extensive  scheme 
much  of  which  still  remains  intact  (Plates  180-184). 
Special  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  beautiful  well  in  the 
courtyard  (Plate  171;)  and  to  the  garden  gate  with  the 
tribune  at  the  far  end  of  the  walk,  backed  by  a  clump  of 
cypresses  (Plate  177)  and  on  axis  with  the  gate — all  parts 
of  the  original  design  planned  to  produce  a  strongly  dra- 
matic effect,  a  result  achieved  in  a  simple,  masterly  and  most 
gratifying  manner. 

The  Villa  Garzoni,  at  Collodi,  La  Pietra,  Cetinale,  the 
Villa  Corsi-Salviati,  and  Poggio  Torselli  all  exemplify 
seventeenth  century  methods  and  ideals.  Of  these  the  Villa 
Garzoni,  at  Collodi,  furnishes  the  most  representative  in- 
stance of  a  large  scheme  (Plates  261-269)  boldly  carried 
out  with   cascades,    fountains,    terraces,   steps,   balustrades. 


GARDENS  EARLY  AND  EATE       79 

statuary,  pots,  topiary  work  and  paitcncs  dc  broderie.  All 
of  these  features  are  fully  considered  in  the  detailed  descrip- 
tion of  the  villa.  The  gardens  of  the  Villa  Corsi-Salviati 
(Plates  270-279),  at  Sesto,  though  rich  in  charm,  are  less 
extensive  than  those  at  Collodi  and  have  not  the  same  ad- 
vantage of  greatly  diversified  levels.  At  La  Pietra  (  Plates 
216-221)  seventeenth  century  methods  are  admirably  car- 
ried out  in  a  conscientious  restoration.  The  old  garden  had 
been  destroyed  to  make  way  for  a  tjiaydiiio  iiujh'sc  of  great 
extent,  but  fortunately  the  traces  of  the  original  work  had  not 
been  wholly  obliterated  so  that  the  present  owner  has 
been  able  to  restore  the  estate  to  substantially  its  pris- 
tine condition. 

A  careful  study  of  these  gardens  and  the  manner  of  their 
making  should  be  sufficient  to  convince  the  reader  of  the 
intrinsic  soundness  and  value  of  the  ideals  embodied,  and 
to  dispel  the  notion,  unfortunately  still  too  prevalent,  that 
the  old  Italian  methods  of  gardening  were  based  on  essen- 
tially false  conceptions  and  replete  with  a  cold,  starched 
formality. 


CIGLIANO,  SAN  CASCIANO,  VAL  DI  PESA 

CiGLiAKO,  near  the  little  town  of  San  Casciano,  overlookinj^  the  \'al  di 
Pesa,  is  a  singularly  valuable  and  striking  example  of  the  early  Renaissance 
Tuscan  villa  in  that  it  retains  all  the  characteristic  features  of  the  villa  life 
of  the  period  and,  with  one  exception,  has  experienced  no  substantial 
change  since  about  the  end  of  the  quattrocento  when  the  house  assumed  the 
form  in  which  we  see  it  to-day. 

Late  in  the  Middle  Ages  Cigliano  belonged  to  the  Bondi,  and  how 
much  of  a  dwelling  then  was  there,  or  of  exactly  what  appearance  it  was, 
we  have  no  means  of  knowing.  After  the  Bondi  the  Guidetti  had  it,  and 
after  the  Guidetti  the  Cinelli,  from  whom  it  passed  to  the  Florentine  Sen- 
ator, Alessandro  di  Niccolo  Antinori,  who  rebuilt  the  house  virtually  as  it 
now  stands.  Since  his  time  Cigliano  has  remained  in  the  possession  of  the 
Antinori  family,  the  present  owner,  the  Marchese  Lodovico  Antinori, 
having  made  it  his  favourite  place  of  abode. 

The  same  Alessandro  di  Niccolo  Antinori  who  rebuilt  Cigliano,  built 
also  the  beautiful  Palazzo  Antinori  in  Florence  after  the  design  of  Giuliano 
da  Sangallo,  and  likewise  the  Villa  delle  Rose,  near  Galluzzo.  It  is  thus 
quite  evident  that  Cigliano  is  entitled  to  be  regarded  as  typical  of  the 
country  residences  which  the  wealthy  Florentine  nobility  of  that  period 
established  for  themselves. 

Alessandro  di  Niccolo  was  a  close  friend  of  Cosimo  de'  Medici,  the 
first  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  and  a  member  of  his  Secret  Council.  He 
took  to  wife  Giovanna  Tornabuoni  and  as  a  reminder  of  this  union  there 
are  still  to  be  seen  the  two  maiolica  roundels  affixed  to  the  wall  of  the 
coriile  (Plate  5)  at  Cigliano  above  the  arches  of  the  loggia.  These  poly- 
chrome roundels,  encircled  by  garlands  of  fruit  and  foliage,  are  attributed 
to  Giovanni  della  Robbia,  the  one  bearing  the  arms  of  the  Antinori,  the 
other  the  arms  of  the  Tornabuoni. 

The  one  change  alluded  to  in  the  outward  aspect  of  Cigliano  occurred 
during  the  ownership  of  Niccolo  Francesco  Antinori,  the  trusted  friend 
and  adviser  of  Cosimo  III.,  de'  Medici.  As  a  courtier  and  much-travelled 
diplomat  one  can  readily  understand  that  Niccolo  Francesco  would  be 
afifected  by  the  prevalent  Baroque  taste  of  his  day  and  would  endeavour  to 
bring  Cigliano,  which  was  his  favourite  country  residence,  into  some  man- 
ner of  accord  with  the  current  style.  This  he  did,  though  in  a  restrained 
fashion  quite  free  from  the  more  flamboyant  flights  of  the  day,  by  re- 
modelling the  south  or  garden  front  of  the  house  (Plate  9)  to  the  form  it 
now  bears.  He  also  adorned  the  facade  of  the  lirnaiirii/i,  or  lemon  house, 
which  forms  the  southern  boundary  of  the  walled  garden,  with  vigorous 
Baroque  panelling  (Plate  14)  in  sgrafitto.  adding  urns  on  the  top,  and 
completing  the  formal  treatment  by  placing  an  hernic-sized  Father  Neptune 
(Plate  13)  in  a  pebble  and  shell-encrusted  niche  to  play  a  jet  of  water  into  the 
6  81 


82  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

great  pool  or  viisca  (Plates  g  and  14)  over  which  he  presides.  The  present 
form  of  the  pool  also  dates  fronj  1 69 1,  when  these  changes  were  effected. 

From  the  portoiie,  or  house  door  (Plates  2,  3  and  4),  of  the  north  front, 
flanked  by  a  panca,  or  low  bench  (Plate  3)  at  each  side  of  the  steps — 
always  an  indication  of  early  work — a  vaulted  passage  (Plate  4)  leads  into 
the  irregular  quadrangle  of  the  stone-paved  cortile  (Plate  5).  Here  is  an 
ancient  well-head  (Plates  7  and  8)  and,  on  the  south  side,  a  triple-arched 
loggia.  From  one  of  the  illustrations  it  can  be  seen  that  wires  are  so  arranged 
that  a  canvas  awning  (Plate  7)  can  be  drawn  across  the  whole  cortile  during 
the  heat  of  the  day,  thus  following  out  a  traditional  usage  that  seems  to 
have  come  down  from  Roman  times. 

The  high,  lunette-vaulted  and  brick  paved  rooms  on  the  ground  floor, 
with  whitewashed  walls  and  beautifully  carved  stone  corbels,  are  occupied 
by  the  family,  and  also  the  first  floor  rooms  on  the  garden  front.  The  rest 
of  the  first  floor  is  given  over  to  the  house  servants,  to  drying  rooms  for 
fruit,  and  to  some  of  the  crmtadiui  who  work  on  the  immediately  adjacent 
parts  of  the  estate.  This  is  quite  according  to  the  patriarchal,  time-hon- 
oured custom  of  the  families  who  have  always  lived  in  their  villas  them- 
selves, instead  of  letting  them  to  others,  and  have  preserved  the  traditional 
methods  of  household  management,  where  everything  is  carried  on  under 
the  immediate  eye  of  the  master. 

At  the  west  side  (Plate  15),  where  the  ground  slopes  abruptly  away, 
is  the  great  vaulted  cantina  or  store  house,  under  the  ground  floor — to  be 
explicit,  under  the  dining-room,  salone  or  living  room,  and  the  western 
bed  chamber.  Here  the  products  of  the  farm  are  put  away.  Rows  of  great 
earthen  "  Ali  Baba  "  jars  contain  the  oil.  Mighty  vats  and  hogsheads  hold 
the  wine,  while  hams  and  rashers  of  bacon  depend  from  the  vaulting. 

The  stuccoed  walls  of  the  house  are  of  that  indescribable  "  Tuscan  villa 
colour,"  as  elusive  as  the  hues  of  the  sunset  clouds.  It  is  by  turn  grey, 
brown,  buff,  yellow  or  salmon,  according  to  the  light  and  the  texture  of  the 
masonry.  The  shutters  are  painted  green  and  the  window  and  door  trims 
are  of  the  customary  brownish  grey  pietra  sereria. 

About  seventy  years  ago  the  ancient  geometrical  lay-out  of  the  garden 
gave  place  to  the  asymmetrical  arrangement  of  a  glardino  inglese,  without, 
however,  disturbing  the  old  raised  beds  or  tori  along  the  side  walls  (Frontis- 
piece, and  plates  9  and  11)  and  immediately  before  the  garden  front  (Plate 
10)  of  the  house.  Nevertheless,  the  great  pool,  the  walls,  and  the  ingenious 
simplicity  of  garden  practice,  where  rose  beds  are  edged  with  strawberry 
plants  and  espaliered  fruit  trees  grow  against  the  side  of  the  house  along 
with  jasmine  and  climbing  roses,  maintain  the  true  Tuscan  character  of 
the  enclosure,  which  constantly  serves  as  a  veritable  outdoor  living  room 
for  the  family  and  their  friends  who  enjoy  the  happy  privilege  of  a  sojourn 
in  this  delectable  spot  which  has  so  faithfully  preserved  the  essential  spirit 
of  old  Tuscany. 


83 


/s* 


Plate  1.     GROUND   FLOOR  PLAN— CIGLIANO.   SAN   CASCrANO.   VAL   HI  PESA 


KEY  TO  PLAN 


1.  Hallway 

2.  Study 

?,  Bedroom 

4.  Bedroom 

5.  Sitting  Room 

6.  Loeeia 

7.  Conile — 7a.  Well  in  Cortile 


8.  Dininc  Room 

9.  Boudoir 

10.  Salone 

11.  Bedroom 

12.  Bedroom 
H.  Bathroom 
14.  Garden 


84 


86 


I 


I'LATt  4.     PORTONE— CIGUANO 


87 


88 


WIMIUW     IN    I.CH.GJA — C'R;LIAN0 


89 


Plate  7.     ENTRAN'CE  HAl.l,.   FROM  CORTILE — CIGI.IANO 


90 


H 


Plate  8.     WELL  HEAD  IN  CORTILE— CIGLL\NO 


91 


92 


I 


93 


PlaiuII.      C  ARDI  N    I.  \I  !■,    hM>    ol     hASTWAIA  —  ili.M\M 


94 


Plate  12.     GATE  INTO  GARDEN — ClUUANO 


95 


Pi  ATE  1).      FdlM  \1N    IN    \\  AM,  (IF  LEMON  HOUSE — CIGLIANO 


96 


Plate  14.     POOL  AND  LEMON  HOUSE — CIGUANO 


97 


IL  GIOJELLO  (THE  VILLA  GALILEO), 
PIAN  DE'  GIULLARI 

If  you  leave  Florence  by  the  Porta  San  Miniato,  toil  up  the  steep  ascent 
past  the  wondrous  old  church  of  San  Miniato  al  Monte,  and  follow  a  wind- 
ing road  still  upward  toward  the  south,  one  of  the  fairest  and  most  vividly 
diversified  parts  of  Tuscany  unfolds  itself  to  view. 

Near  the  top  of  the  last  stretch  of  hilly  road  is  the  little  village  of 
Arcetri  whose  neighbourhood  inevitably  recalls  the  memory  of  Galileo. 
Throughout  the  last  long  climb  the  Torre  del  Gallo  is  in  full  sight.  This 
stern  landmark,  which  dates  from  the  Middle  Ages  and  takes  its  name  from 
its  ancient  owners,  the  Galli  family,  according  to  popular  tradition  was 
intimately  associated  with  the  closing  years  of  the  great  astronomer's  life. 
It  is  said  that  Galileo,  when  he  was  living  nearby  in  "  II  Giojello  "  at  Plan 
de'  GiuUari,  used  often  to  resort  to  this  tower  and  thence  pursue  his  astro- 
nomical observations.  This  is  a  pleasing  legend  to  believe,  but  unfortunately 
there  is  reason  to  question  its  credibility.  When  Galileo  came  to  live  at 
II  Giojello  he  was  virtually  under  sentence  of  banishment  and  subjected 
to  close  surveillance.  Considering  these  circumstances,  it  is  scarcely  likely 
he  could  have  had  either  the  liberty  or  the  means  for  continuing  those 
scientific  observations  that  had  already  cost  him  endless  persecution  and 
brought  down  upon  him  severe  condemnation  from  the  authorities.  Fur- 
thermore, at  this  time  he  was  almost  blind.  Nevertheless,  out  of  respect 
for  the  tradition.  Count  Paolo  Galletti,  for  many  j'ears  the  owner  of  the 
Torre  del  Gallo,  gathered  together  there  an  important  collection  of  divers 
memorials  of  Galileo. 

Turning  to  the  left  at  Arcetri,  after  passing  the  Torre  del  Gallo,  it  is 
but  a  trifling  distance  thence  into  the  hamlet  of  Pian  de'  GiuUari  where  II 
Giojello  (Plate  17),  known  also  as  the  Villa  Galileo,  fronts  on  the  single 
street  near  the  little  piazza,  at  the  far  side  of  which  is  L'Ombrellino,  a 
small  villa  orginally  built,  as  we  shall  by-and-by  see,  for  an  hospice  to 
shelter  travellers  and  pilgrims  on  their  way  to  the  church  of  Saint  Michael 
the  Archangel  at  Monte  Ripaldi. 

The  name  Pian  de'  GiuUari  perpetuates  the  memory  of  a  fascinating  bit 
of  history.  In  the  Middle  Ages  this  village  seems  to  have  been  the  favourite 
place  of  abode,  or  at  least  the  favourite  place  of  resort,  for  the  Florentine 
o'niUan  or  jesters,  who  apparently  associated  themselves  in  a  iiiys/ery  or 
gild  organisation,  after  the  manner  commonly  employed  by  the  members  of 
one  or  another  craft  or  calling  at  that  time.  In  the  second  volume  of  his 
invaluable  book,  /  Diiitorui  dl  Firciizc.  Guido  Carocci  tells  us  "that  the 
origin  of  the  name  is  evidently  to  be  sought  in  the  fact  that  this  was  the 
chosen  place  of  the  jesters  for  giving  their  performances.  Varchi  attributes 
the  name  to  the  giullarate  or  festivals  of  buffoonery  that  were  given  here 

99 


loo  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

during  the  Middle  Ages;  nevertheless,  it  is  clear  that  in  this  village  there 
existed  a  true  and  properly  appointed  theatre  in  which  comedy  had  its 
beginnings.     And  the  theatre  of  the  jesters  was  none  other  than   a  large 

room  in  a  villa which  through  all  the  centuries  has  always  kept 

the  name  of  The  Theatre."  Again,  in  speaking  specifically  of  the  villa 
"  II  Teatro,"  Carocci  observes  its  noteworthy  historical  importance  "  be- 
cause it  was  here,  in  a  great  room  on  the  ground  floor,  that  from  the  Middle 
Ages  was  established  that  theatre  of  the  jesters  from  which  the  name  of 
the  place  was  derived.  This  room  still  exists  and  after  so  long  a  tale  of 
centuries  the  name  of  //  Teatro  remains  attached  to  the  villa." 

Scarcely  more  than  a  stone's  throw  from  this  ancient  seat  of  Italian 
comedy  lies  "  II  Giojello,"  the  east  or  entrance  fagade  of  the  house  front- 
ing on  the  old  Via  Imprunetana  while  the  garden  wall  extends  southward 
for  some  distance  so  that  the  lodge  and  stable  are  on  the  little  piazza,  just 
over  against  "  L'Ombrellino,"  erstwhile  the  Ospedale  della  Santis- 
sima  Trinita. 

It  is  recorded  that  at  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century  "  II  GiojcIIo  " 
belonged  to  the  Masi  family  of  Florence.  At  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century  it  was  sold  to  the  Calderini,  and  again  by  them,  in  1559,  to  the 
Cavalcanti.  Subsequently  it  passed  through  various  hands  until  Ginevra 
di  Esau  Martellini,  November  i,  163 1,  let  it  to  Galileo  di  Vincenzo  Galilei 
who  thereupon  took  up  his  residence.  Notwithstanding  the  restraints  im- 
posed upon  him  and  the  keeping  of  a  close  watch  over  his  movements, 
previously  alluded  to,  he  was  permitted  to  gather  his  favourite  pupils  about 
him  from  time  to  time  as  welcome  guests,  and,  now  and  again,  in  addition 
to  these  more  constant  comforters  of  his  exile,  came  such  distinguished 
visitors  and  admirers  as  Evangelista  Torricelli  and  John  Milton.  Here 
his  troubled  life  closed  at  All  Hallows,  1642. 

Posterity,  more  mindful  of  the  great  astronomer's  deserving  than  the 
men  of  his  own  day  and  generation,  has  placed  a  marble  bust  of  Galileo  in 
a  niche  in  the  wall  on  the  road  front  of  the  house,  and  a  tablet  beneath  it 
commemorates  Galileo's  occupancy  and  Milton's  visit.  Since  Galileo's 
time  no  significant  changes  in  the  structure  have  taken  place.  Carocci 
mentions  the  house  as  especially  pleasing  "  for  the  elegance  of  its  fabric  in 
which  appear  the  graceful  and  correct  forms  of  the  end  of  the  fif- 
teenth century." 

As  the  plans  shew  (Plate  16),  the  house  is  built  about  three  sides  of  an 
oblong  cortile  which  is  open  to  the  south,  save  for  the  wall  (Plate  18) 
closing  it  in  from  the  outer  garden  and  arable  ground.  Although  the  pres- 
ent garden  within  the  cortile  (Plate  20)  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to  remote 
antiquity,  nevertheless,  the  symmetrical  arrangement  of  the  beds  and  walks 
has  fairly  well  adhered  to  Renaissance  tradition.  One  of  the  most  engaging 
features  about  the  cortile  garden  is  the  well-head  in  the  wall   (Plate  21) 


IL  GIOJELLO  (THE  VILLA  GALILEO),       loi 

at  the  southeast  corner.  The  well,  as  one  of  the  illustrations  shews,  is  ac- 
cessible from  outside  the  cortile  so  that  the  contadiui  can  draw  water 
thence,  without  entering  the  enclosure,  by  mounting  the  steps  and  opening 
the  shutters  (Plate  ig)  of  the  little  window  in  the  wall.  The  plan  of  the 
house,  according  to  which  the  cortile  is  closed  in  by  the  structure  on  three 
sides,  is  one  of  the  characteristic  arrangements  prevailing  during  the  fif- 
teenth and  sixteenth  centuries. 

The  ground  floor  of  the  southeast  wing  was  orginally  a  loggia  (Plate 
21 ),  just  as  the  first  floor  space  above  it  still  is,  but  it  was  enclosed  at  an 
early  date  to  make  additional  rooms.  A  longer  loggia  extends  towards 
the  northeast  and  shuts  in  the  rear  of  the  house  from  the  road.  The  small 
windows  like  portholes  in  the  north  wall  (Plate  24)  light  staircases  and 
cupboards.  The  walls  are  of  grey  stucco  and  the  window  and  door  trims 
are  of  the  close-grained  grey  pietra  sereiui  quarried  at  Fiesole.  In  surface 
the  stucco  is  smooth  and  easily  coated  with  wash ;  all  the  shutters  are  light 
green  in  colour. 

There  is  very  little  garden  space  attached  to  "  II  Giojello  " — only  the 
small  formal  plot  within  the  cortile  and  a  small  stretch  beyond  the  cortile 
wall  along  the  path  going  do\in  to  the  portiere's  lodge  beside  the  gate. 
Elsewhere  the  olive  orchards  and  vineyards  come  close  up  to  the  house,  as 
may  be  seen  by  the  view  of  the  terrace  along  the  northwest  side  (Plate  23). 

On  the  ground  floor  tlie  ceilings  of  the  rooms  are  lunette-vaulted  and 
the  corbels  at  the  springs  of  the  vaulting  are  of  simple  but  exceedingly  vig- 
orous design.  The  floors  are  paved  in  the  customary  way  with  large, 
oblong  bricks.  As  was  usual  in  the  early  period,  the  staircase  is  not  made 
a  feature  of  architectural  importance.  The  kitchen  is  in  the  basement  and 
the  room  numbered  2  on  the  plan  is  really  more  of  a  serving  room  than  a 
kitchen,  although  cooking  may  be  done  therein. 


I03 


Plate  16.     GROUND   FLOOR  PLAN  — II.  GlOJEl.l.O   (VILLA  GALILEO)    PLAN    DP:  f;lULL.ARI 
KEY  TO   PLAN   OF  IL  GIOJELLO 


1.  Vestibule 

2.  Pantry 

?.  Dining  Room 

4,  Salone 

5.  Sitting  Room 


6.  Sitting  Room 

7.  Study 

8.  Librar>- 

9.  Study 


104 


I05 


Plate  18.     APPROACH  FROM  GARDEN  TO  CORTILE— IL  GIOJELLO   (VILLA  GALILEO) 


io6 


PlATE  19.      GATE  FROM    CARCES'    INTJ   CORTII.L — IL  ClOJELLO   (VILLA  GALILEO 


I07 


CIOJEI.I.O     (VII. I. A   GALILEO) 


io8 


Plate  21.     WELL  HEAD   IN  CORTILE— IL  GIOJELLO    (vlLLA  GALILEO) 


I09 


U  ING— IL.GIOJtLLO    (.VILLA  GALlLtU; 


no 


GIOJELI.O     (VILLA   GALILEO) 


Ill 


24.     NORTH   SlOn— IL  GIOJFXI.O    (VILLA  GALILEO 


L'OMBRELLINO,  PIAN  DE'  GIULLARI 

L'  Ombrellixo  (The  Little  Umbrella), so  called  in  allusion  to  the  little 
umbrella  that  tops  the  weathervane  surmounting  the  tower,  did  not  be- 
gin its  existence  as  a  villa  residence  nor  has  the  place  ever  quite  achieved 
independence  as  a  villa  in  its  own  right,  being  an  appanage — if  one  may  use  so 
dignified  a  term  in  speaking  of  such  an  unpretentious  little  place — of  the 
adjacent  Villa  Pazzi.  Nevertheless,  as  a  comparatively  small  house  de- 
tached from  any  surrounding  estate,  L'Ombrellino  possesses  not  a  little 
individuality  and  an  interest  of  its  own  from  an  architectural  point  of  view. 

About  the  year  1300  a  part  of  L'Ombrellino  was  built  by  the  family  of 
the  Bonaccorsi  as  a  work  of  piety.  It  was  intended  as  an  hospice  for  the 
shelter  and  succour  of  sick  travellers  and  for  pilgrims  on  their  way  to 
Monte  Ripaldi,  and  was  known  as  the  Spedale  della  Santissima  Trinita 
al  Pian  de'  GiuUari.  It  was  a  modest  little  structure  containing  a  chapel 
or  oratory  and  an  equipment  of  two  beds,  with  such  necessary  additional 
buildings  as  that  limited  hospital  capacity  implied. 

It  once  had  a  little  loggia  opening  upon  the  tiny  piazza  of  Pian  de' 
Giullari,  but  this  was  subsequently  closed  up.  From  time  to  time  addi- 
tions were  made  until  the  fabric  assumed  its  present  form,  a  completion 
effected,  however,  at  an  early  date.  L'Ombrellino's  function  as  an  hospice 
came  to  an  end  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  at  which  time 
the  house  and  oratory  were  annexed  to  the  adjoining  Villa  Pazzi. 

The  stuccoed  walls  are  a  pinkish  grey  in  colour  and  the  shutters  are 
dark  green.  The  entrance  is  not  on  the  side  facing  the  little  piazza  or 
square  of  Pian  de'  Giullari,  in  which  appear  the  old  chapel  door  and  another 
doorway  (Plate  26),  but  is  reached  by  the  road  at  the  left  (Plate  27)  and 
adjoins  the  lodge  of  the  gatekeeper  to  the  Villa  Pazzi. 

Unpretentious  and  devoid  of  all  ornament  as  the  exterior  of 
L'Ombrellino  is,  the  interior  is  even  more  rigidly  simple.  There  are  no 
vaultings,  no  carved  corbels,  no  decorative  door  or  window  trims,  no 
beamed  and  painted  ceilings.  There  is  no  architectural  effort  whatever 
about  L'Ombrellino,  either  within  or  without ;  it  is  merely  a  spontaneous 
utilitarian  structure  and  for  that  reason,  without  the  glamour  of  environ- 
ment, exhibits  the  intrinsic  merit  of  certain  features  of  structure  and  com- 
position more  or  less  applicable  to  the  architectural  requirements  of  the 
present  day  in  those  cases  where  the  utmost  simplicity  and  small  sites  are 
necessary  conditions  that  have  to  be  met. 

From  L'Ombrellino  and  the  gatekeeper's  lodge  the  approach  to  the 
Villa  Pazzi  is  by  a  steep,  straight  roadway  which  ascends  to  the  top  of  the 
hill  between  olive  orchards  and  vineyards. 

"3 


"5 


I      I     I      I      I      I      I      M      I      I  "J.  -I^^,y 

1°  r  r  r  rrr^-^/A^ 

GROUND   F[,OOR  PLAN  — L'OMBRELLINO,    PIAN  DE'GIL'LLARI, 


NKAR   FLORENCE 


1.  Cbape! 

2.  Old  Infirmary 
i.  Sacristy 

4.  Part  Of  Old  Infirmary 


KEY  TO  FLAN 

The  Salone  is  above  14  and  15. 
Tlie  other  numbers  indicate  i;r<iuiid 
floor  rooms  that  have  been  added 
from  time  to  time  and  have  lost 
their  original  uses. 


ii6 


M'k  I  IIRAST  FRONT — L'OMBRELI.ISO 


"7 


^^.;a 


Plate  :7.     bol'l  IIW  ts  1    tSD  AM)   HNTRANCK— L'OMBRELI.INO 


Ii8 


119 


I'^    ill     :■■.       I.  M:|)1   \    Dunk        I,   1-\I|;K1  |   |   |\, 


I20 


Plate  iO.     WITHIN  THE  CORTILE— I/OMBRELLINO 


THE  VILLA  PAZZI  (LA  VACCHIA), 
PIAN  DE'GIULLARI 

The  Villa  Pazzi,  on  top  of  the  hill  just  above  Pian  de'  Giullari,  dates 
back  to  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  centur\ ,  although,  of  course,  not  in 
the  form  in  which  it  now  appears.  It  has  been  altered  and  added  to  at 
various  periods  in  the  course  of  its  long  history.  So  far  as  we  can  judge 
from  the  testimony  of  the  records  and  the  witness  of  the  fabric  itself,  the 
house  assumed  substantially  its  present  aspect  some  time  during  the  fif- 
teenth century. 

In  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  the  estate  belonged  to  the 
Bonaccorsi.  In  the  fifteenth  century  it  had  come  into  the  possession  of  a 
certain  Bartolommeo  di  Giorgio.  From  his  heirs  it  went  later  to  Francesco 
di  Antonio,  whose  widow,  Lucrezia,  daughter  of  Tommaso  Petrucci, 
came  into  actual  possession  of  the  villa  in  1528,  when  she  had  already 
married  a  second  husband,  Michele  Del  Cittadino.  From  the  Cittadini  the 
estate  went  to  the  family  of  Delia  Vacchia  who  attached  their  name  to  the 
place  and  seem  to  have  made  various  enlargements.  In  1673  the  Samminiati 
bought  the  villa,  and  in  1760  it  passed  by  marriage  into  the  Pazzi  family. 
After  sundry  vicissitudes  of  ownership,  it  has  now  for  a  number  of  years 
been  in  the  possession  of  the  present  occupant,  Charles  Eyre,  Esquire. 

In  studying  the  old  Tuscan  villas  that  exhibit  a  tower  (Plates  35,  36 
and  45)  rising  at  some  point  or  other  above  the  rest  of  their  structure,  it  is 
generally  safe  to  assume  that  the  tower  represents  the  most  ancient  part  of 
the  habitation,  the  nucleus  about  which  later  additions  were  made,  a  fact 
to  which  attention  has  already  been  called  in  Chapter  I.  The  ground  floor 
of  the  tower  was  not  used  for  human  occupancy  but  was  employed  for 
storage  purposes  or  for  stabling,  the  owner,  or  the  tenant,  and  his  house- 
hold living  in  the  upper  rooms,  of  which  there  was  usually  one  to  each  floor. 
How  these  early  castellated  abodes — capable  of  defence  when  necessary — 
gradually  expanded  and  became  the  villa  dwellings  of  the  Renaissance  has 
been  previously  explained.  The  ancient  tower  of  the  Villa  Pazzi,  from 
which  the  rest  of  the  house  subseqently  grew,  is  a  conspicuous  feature  of 
the  building  and  impresses  itself  upon  the  imagination  from  whatever  point 
of  view  one  contemplates  the  house.  Although  the  entire  structure  now 
appears  as  a  solid  rectangular  mass  (Plate  45),  it  is  not  at  all  improbable, 
as  explained  in  the  first  chapter,  that  at  an  early  date  there  may  have 
been  a  cortile  that  occupied  the  space  now  covered  on  the  plan  (Plate  31) 
by  the  sal  one. 

The  extreme  western  portion  of  the  building,  which  contains  the 
kitchens  (Plate  48),  the  servants'  quarters,  the  coach  house  and  the  stables, 
also  contains  the  rooms  where  the  olives  and  the  grapes,  each  in  due  season, 
are  converted  into  oil  and  wine.     The  olives  are  still  crushed  in  the  time- 


122  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

honoured  way  by  a  great  stone  disc  affixed  to  the  end  of  an  axle  beam  and 
revohing  in  a  circular  trench,  the  motive  power  being  a  donkey — the 
whole  contrivance  being  much  like  the  old-fashioned  horse-propelled 
cyder  press. 

The  liriion/iia  or  lemon  house,  where  the  lemon  trees  are  sheltered  during 
the  winter,  lies  to  the  west  of  the  garden  and  its  rear  forms  the  garden  wall 
on  that  side.  The  chapel,  which  is  detached  from  the  house,  stands  at  the 
right  side  of  the  gate  (Plates  32-34)  as  one  enters  the  forecourt,  while  at 
one  side  of  the  chapel  is  the  end  of  the  long  cypress  walk  (Plate  33)  leading 
to  the  farmhouse,  a  very  ancient  dwelling  which  is  usually  entered  through 
the  stable  and  thence  into  the  spacious  kitchen.  The  animals  and  the 
human  tenants  of  the  farmhouse  live  on  terms  of  most  amiable  and  patri- 
archal cameraderie. 

The  walls  of  the  master's  house  are  of  that  elusive,  chameleon-like 
character  of  colour,  elsewhere  alluded  to,  and  range  from  a  lightish  chocolate 
brown  to  salmon  pink,  according  to  the  light  and  the  state  of  the  atmos- 
phere. The  shutters  are  light  green — there  the  colour  is  constant  and  it  is 
possible  to  make  a  definite  statement  about  it.  The  stonework  about  the 
doors  and  windows  (Plates  36  and  43)  is  of  the  usual  close-grained  brown- 
ish grey  pietra  seretm.  The  exterior  aspect  of  the  house  is  unique  owing  to 
the  numerous  and  multi-coloured  maiolica  plates,  platters  and  plaques  set 
into  the  walls  (Plates  36,  37  and  43),  affording  spots  of  bright  yellow, 
orange  and  green,  and  deep  blue.  About  an  hundred  years  ago,  when  he 
had  occasion  to  re-stucco  the  outside  walls,  the  then  occupant  conceived 
this  novel  method  of  augmenting  colour  interest  and  forthwith  put  his 
unusual  fancies  into  execution. 

The  ceiling  of  the  large  living-room  or  salone  is  beamed  (Plate  39),  but 
what  at  first  sight  appear  to  be  coffers  are  in  reality  pats  of  red  velvet 
edged  with  gold  braid  and  tacked  onto  the  boarding.  The  walls  are  hung 
with  red  brocatelle.  In  the  music  room  the  brick  floor  is  painted  with  a 
parquetry  pattern  in  yellow  and  brown.  The  landscape  paper  in  several 
tones  of  grey  (Plates  40  and  41  )  was  put  on  the  walls  in  the  early  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century;  at  the  same  time  the  beamed  ceiling  was  painted 
in  several  tones  of  grey;  the  lozenge-shaped  coffers  being  simulated  by  in- 
genious shading  and  perspective  on  a  flat  surface.  The  mouldings  were 
painted  in  the  same  adroit  manner  on  the  flat  surfaces  (Plates  41  and  42)  of 
dados  and  window  reveals,  a  characteristic  method  at  that  time  of  producing 
the  effect  of  relief.    The  hangings  are  of  old  golden  yellow  brocade. 

The  little  walled  garden  (Plates  46  and  47) — to  the  east  of  the  house 
and  the  large  garden — is  a  modern  addition,  but  so  carefully  patterned  after 
old  precedents  that  it  fits  perfectly  into  the  general  scheme.  The  general 
arrangement  of  the  beds  and  walks  in  the  large  garden  (Plates  31  and  45) 
plainly  reflects  the  eighteenth  and  early  nineteenth  century  vogue  of  the 


THE  VILLA  PAZZI  (LA  VACCHIA),  123 

giardiiin  iiit/ltsr,  Init  the  presence  of  the  fountain  ami  llshpool  in  the  centre, 
and  the  raised  beds  along  the  east  and  west  walls,  are  reminiscent  of  an 
earlier  tradition.  An  extensive  use  of  orange  and  lemon  trees  in  pots  is,  of 
course,  true  to  ancient  usage  and  imparts  the  emphasis  appropriate  to  the 
old  Tuscan  formal  garden.  Though  the  olive  orchards  and  vineyards 
come  right  up  to  the  garden  walls  on  all  sides,  yet  the  general  composition 
is  so  delightful  and  the  character  of  the  garden  so  satisfying  that  one  is 
not  conscious  of  any  sense  of  limitation.  Moreover,  from  the  south,  where 
the  garden  wall  is  low  and  where  the  lanil  outside  falls  abruptly  away, 
there  is  a  magnificent  prospect  with  the  Apennines  and  Vallombrosa  in  the 
farther  distance,  so  that  there  is  always  a  general  impression  of  great  space. 
The  \'Illa  Pazzi  is  peculiarly  rich  in  that  most  precious  quality, 
domesticity,  which  constitutes  no  little  part  of  its  charm.  There  is  no  osten- 
tatious grandeur ;  it  is  pre-eminently  an  home.  The  house  itself  is  devoid 
of  any  architectural  pretense.  Indeed,  its  utter  simplicity  is  its  most  allur- 
ing trait.  To  put  it  in  the  words  of  a  \isiting  architect  whom  the  writer 
once  took  there,  "  There  is  so  damned  little  architecture  about  it  that  it's 
bound  to  be  good." 


i25 


Plate  JI.     GROUND  FLOOR  AND  GARDEN  PLAN — VILLA  PAZZI    (LA  VACCHIA). 
PIAN   DE'GIULLARL   NEAR  FLORENCE 


KKV  TO  PLAN 


1.  Salone  or  Great  Hall 

2.  Hall 
I.   Study 

4.  Music  Room 

5.  Cupboard  for  Coats,  and  Toilet 

6.  Drawing  Room 

7.  Dining  Room 
S.    Panlry 

The  buildines  opening  out  beyond  the  carage  are  farm  appurtenances  and  small  rooms  where 
the  oil  and  wine  are  made.  They  do  not  form  any  essential  part  of  the  main  villa,  which  is  fully 
indicated  on  the  accompanyine  plan. 


9.  Bathroom  and  Toilet 

10,  Kitchen 

11,  Garage 

12,  Shed 

H.  Kitchen  Courtyard 

14.  Lemon  House 

15.  Chapel 


126 


Pi. Alt   ;:.      GAIKWAV    AND   CHAI'H.-    MLLA  PAZZI    (LA  VACCHIA) 


127 


L;H  ) 


Plate  i!.     CHAPEL  AND  CYPRESS  WALK  TO  PODERE — VILLA  PAZZl  (LA  VACCHIA) 


128 


Pi  ATK    !4.      MiKTH    hK(IM,     IKOM    1 ,  A  1  t— \  ll.l.A    I'A/./l    (LA    \ACLHII 


129 


PlATE   i5.      NORTH    FRONT— VILLA   PAZ7.I    (LA  VACCHIA) 


I30 


'31 


.^^ 


!!«■■! 

f3=i:=|ri 


■zd*'f 


PIATE    n.      HOUSE   DOOR — \  ILLA    I'AZZI    U.A   VAC'CHIAI 


132 


Plate  !8.      DOORWAY   IN   SALONt— \  ILLA   PAZZl    (LA  \ACCH1A) 


133 


Fi-ATK   !9.     SALiiM — \  11,1  A   I' \/ZI    '  I.A   \  ACCHIA 


134 


Plate  40.     MUSIC  ROOM— VILLA  PAZZI  (LA  VACCHIA) 


I3S 


Plate  41.      MUSIC   ROOM— VILLA  PAZZl    (LA  VACCHIA) 


136 


Plate  42.      WINOUWS  IN  MUSIC  ROUM — VILLA   PAZZl   (].A  VACCHL-^) 


137 


Plate  4S.      DETAII.  SOUTH    FRONT — VILLA  PAZZI   (LA  VACCHIA) 


138 


,'*:« 


^1»,V 


\  t 


'   =>V.-I 


fV^_ 


><<!^.'^' 


Y'\^^: 


^n: 


Plate  44.     SOUTH   VK' 


I  I  K  K  M   I        \  II  I  A    I'  \//l    (|,\    \    \Cl  111  \ 


139 


140 


•41 


Pi  ATK  47.      LITTLE  WALLED   GARDEN — VILLA  PAZZI    (LA  VACCHIA) 


142 


Pl-AlK  4a.      KITCHKN    CORIII.H — VII.LA   PAZZI    (I.A  VACCHIA) 


IL  FRULLINO.  SAN  GERVASIO,  FLORENCE 

The  Villa  Frullino,  on  the  \'i;i  C;iinerat;i  in  San  Gervasio,  nearly 
half  way  between  the  centre  of  Florence  and  Fiesole,  is  characteristic  of 
one  of  the  types  of  the  smaller  Tuscan  villas — so  many  of  whioii  were  built 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Florence  durini;  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries.  As  the  plans  shew  (Plate  49),  the  house  is  a  rectangle  in  mass, 
built  about  a  central  cor/ilc. 

The  present  form  of  the  house,  dating  chiefly  from  the  late  fifteenth  or 
early  sixteenth  century,  is  really  an  addition  to  a  much  older  nucleus. 
Recent  alterations  and  restorations,  undertaken  since  the  illustrations  were 
made,  have  brought  to  light  much  of  the  thirteenth  century  workmanship 
in  and  about  the  tower  (Plate  53),  the  remo\al  of  the  stucco  coat  plainly 
revealing  the  original  arrangements.  From  the  evidence  thus  disclosed  it 
is  clear  that  tlie  tower  and  a  small  adjacent  portion  of  the  structure  con- 
stituted the  original  dwelling  while  the  other  parts  of  the  house  com- 
pleting the  enclosure  of  the  cortHe  came  as  a  later  development. 

The  glazed  triple  arcade  on  the  first  floor  of  the  south  front  (Plate  51 ), 
above  the  house  door,  indicates  a  comparatively  recent  alteration.  This 
has  now  been  replaced  by  an  open  loggia  designed  in  conformity  with 
ancient  precedent.  The  change  has  \astly  improved  the  appearance  of  the 
facade.  In  the  corlile  the  glazing  of  the  loggia,  as  shewn  in  one  of  the 
illustrations  (Plate  56),  was  likewise  a  recent  defacement.  This,  too, 
has  now  been  eliminated.  The  sgrafitto  decoration  on  the  west  wall  of  the 
cortile,  above  the  arcade  of  the  loggia,  is  in  dull  buff  and  brown.  While  it 
is  more  or  less  in  keeping  with  the  character  of  the  house,  it  is  not  an  original 
embellishment  and,  judging  from  internal  evidence,  was  wrought  not  by  a 
Tuscan  but  by  some  foreign  hand  for  there  are  elements  of  jocosity  in  the 
composition,  and  the  Tuscans  are  a  serious-minded  people  not  much  given 
to  any  sort  of  joking  or  humorous  grotesquerie  in  the  expression  of  their  art. 

The  hood  of  the  fireplace  (Plate  5-1.)  in  the  drawing-room  is  a  restora- 
tion,while  a  shell-headed  niche  near  the  fireplace,  and  obviously  intended  for 
a  lavabo,  is  of  sixteenth  century  design  and  was  evidently  inserted  at  some 
period  when  this  room  was  used  for  dining  purposes.  This  has  since  been 
removed  and  another  more  ancient  lavabo  that  has  come  to  light  has  been 
placed  in  the  dining-room.  Traces  of  several  other  old  laxabos  are  dis- 
cernible abovestairs  and  it  is  not  at  all  impossible  that  the  kitchen  may  once 
have  been  on  the  first  floor.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  house  is  like  a  pa- 
limpsest and  at  every  step  in  the  restoration  some  new  bit  of  testimony 
turns  up  relative  to  the  manners  of  a  former  time,  occasionally  of  a  nature 
puzzling  to  the  restorers. 

In  the  drawing-room,  the  loggia,  and  several  other  parts  of  the  house, 
the  spiral-fluted  and  foliated  corbels  of  pietra  serena   (Plates  54  -Tid  55) 

'43 


144  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

that  support  the  pendentives  of  the  lunette  vaulting  are  of  a  pattern  much 
employed  by  Brunelleschi  and  afford  some  fascinating  studies  in  well- 
considered  detail.  In  several  of  the  rooms  not  sliewn  in  the  illustrations 
the  ceilings,  instead  of  being  vaulted,  are  of  greater  height  and  beamed, 
liere  and  there  disclosing  touches  of  the  old  coloured  decoration.  The 
floors  are  pa\'ed  with  large  oblong  bricks  and  painted,  generally  a  deep 
brownish  red. 

The  stuccoed  exterior  walls  of  the  house  are  covered  with  a  dull  brown- 
ish wash,  while  the  shutters  are  painted  a  light  green.  Tlie  stonework 
surrounding  the  doors  and  windows  (Plate  58)  is  the  usual  pictni  sereiia. 
The  top  stage  of  the  tower  is  a  belvedere  open  on  all  four  sides.  This  is 
quite  in  accord  with  an  ancient  usage,  common  though  not  universal.  When 
one  considers  the  glorious  views  to  be  obtained  thence — to  the  northwest, 
the  rugged  mass  of  Monte  Morello  ;  to  the  north,  the  steep  slopes  ascending 
to  high  Fiesole;  to  the  east,  the  long  flanks  of  the  Apennines;  to  the  south 
and  west,  Florence  and  the  smiling  Val  d'Arno — to  say  nothing  of  the  re- 
freshing breezes  during  the  hot  summer  months,  it  is  not  hard  to  under- 
stand why  the  tower  belvedere  so  strongly  commended  itself  to  the  Renais- 
sance builders  as  a  place  of  inspiring  outlook  and,  indeed,  as  an  outdoor 
living-room.  Would  that  more  moderns  might  take  a  lesson  from  their 
wisdom  and  build  these  intensely  practical,  comfortable,  and  private 
belvederi  instead  of  messing  up  the  composition  of  their  houses  by  obstinately 
insisting  upon  ugly,  irrelevant,  and  palpably  appended  verandahs  that  con- 
stitute no  integral  portion  of  the  structure. 

The  garden  arrangements  are  exceedingly  simple,  but  effective,  the 
charm  lying  chiefly  in  the  massing  of  foliage  and  in  the  incisive  contour  and 
placing  of  the  cypress  trees.  Of  course,  the  garden,  in  accordance  with 
Italian  custom,  is  enclosed  by  a  high  wall.  The  present  owner,  Doctor 
Roatta,  has  made  a  small  formal  parterre  in  strict  conformity  with  quat- 
trocento traditions. 


H5 


Plate  49.     GROUND   FLOOR   PLAN— iL  FRULLINO.  SAN   GERVASIO.   NEAR  FLORENCE 


PLOT.  IL  FRULLINO 
KEY  TO  PLAN 

1.  Cortile  Pa\ed  with  Gravel.    Open  lo  ^ky      7.    Kitchen 

2.  Entrance  Hall  8.   Closet  or  Store  Room 
^.   Dininj;  Room                                                         9.   Stair  Hall 

4.  Breakfast  Room  10.  Library  or  Study 

5.  Passage  Way  11.  Loggia  with  Arcade  OpL'ninjr  into  Cortile 

6.  Pantry  or  Serving  Room  12.    Drawing  Room 


146 


Plate  SO.     ENTRANCE— IL  FRUU.INO 


H7 


Plate  51.     SOU!  H    FRONT — II.      RL'IXINO 


148 


\KI)KN  —  II.    KRll.I.lNO 


149 


Plate  Si.     NORTH   PRONI  — 11.  KRULLINO 


i^o 


151 


Plate  55.      DOOR  WITHIN  LOGGIA — IL  PRULUNO 


152 


PLATE  56.      LOGGIA  ARCADE   IN   CORTILE — IL  KRULLINO 


153 

1 


^Jbd-"^- 


■^ysjf^i 


Plate  !7.     WELL  HKAD   IN  CORTILE- 


154 


rtAIK    'is.      KAM     Mill     HI'   t  OR  rU.I-  —  IL    IKLI.LINU 


THE  VILLA  CAPPONI  AT  ARCETRI 

The  Villa  Capponi,  at  Arcetri,  near  Florence,  belonged  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fifteenth  century  to  Piero  di  Bartolommeo  di  Bonaccorsi.  Be- 
tween the  time  of  Piero  di  Bartolommeo  and  the  latter  part  of  the  six- 
teenth century  the  estate  passed  through  various  hands  until,  in  1572,  Gino 
di  Lodovico  Capponi  bought  it  and  in  the  ownership  of  his  heirs  and 
descendants  it  continued  until  a  comparatively  recent  date.  It  was  during 
the  long  ownership  of  the  powerful  and  wealthy  Capponi  family  that  the 
villa,  by  sundry  enlargements  and  embellishments,  assumed  virtually  its 
present  condition. 

The  presence  of  the  tower  is  sufficient  evidence  that  the  structure  orig- 
inated as  a  fortified  farmhouse,  in  the  manner  explained  in  Chapter  I.  of  the 
Introduction.  The  gradual  enlargement  included  a  cortile  round  about 
three  sides  of  which  the  various  rooms  were  grouped.  With  later  addi- 
tions the  house  assumed  a  more  rambling  plan  (Plate  59),  until  the  present 
system  has  become  thoroughly  irregular.  In  the  base  of  the  tower,  which 
is  the  oldest  portion  of  the  house,  and  in  the  parts  immediately  adjacent,  are 
numerous  evidences  of  archaic  workmanship. 

The  central  hall,  numbered  i  on  the  Plan,  divides  the  house  into 
two  parts.  To  the  east  are  the  chapel  and  sacristy,  the  servants'  quarters, 
the  kitchens,  the  stables,  and  the  coach  house ;  to  the  west  are  the  living 
rooms  of  the  family,  with  the  family  kitchen  adjoining  the  cortile.  The 
cortile  is  closed  in  from  the  garden  by  a  curtain  wall,  and  against  this,  in 
the  garden,  a  loggia  has  been  built  in  modern  times  (Plate  72). 

The  south  front  lies  directly  along  a  narrow  road  that  plunges  abruptly 
down  into  the  valley  (Plate  60).  The  three  doors  close  together  on  this 
road  front  (Plate  61)  are  the  house  door  or  portone,  the  chapel  door,  and 
the  stable  door.  The  west,  north  and  east  sides  of  the  house  (Plates  70-72) 
face  into  the  gardens.  As  is  the  case  with  nearly  all  of  these  Tuscan  villas, 
the  colouring  is  an  essential  part  of  the  charm.  Here  the  walls  are  of  a 
warm  salmon  tone,  the  shutters  are  light  green,  and  the  Capponi  arms, 
enclosed  within  cartouches  high  on  the  walls  of  the  tower  (Plates  70  and 
71)  are  in  black  and  white.  The  door  and  window  trims  are  wrought  in 
grey  pietra  serena. 

The  floors  are  of  brick  painted  and  varnished,  save  in  the  halls,  which 
are  paved  with  tiles  of  chequered  black  and  white  marble  (Plates  62-64). 
The  ceilings  of  the  rooms  are  beamed  and  painted  (Plates  65  and  68),  and 
the  halls  are  vaulted  (Plates  62-64).  In  the  dining-room,  the  cornice 
above  the  door  (Plate  69),  which  appears  in  the  illustration  to  be  moulded, 
is  merely  a  bit  of  clever  painting  in  perspective  on  a  flat  surface  in  the 
characteristic  Italian  manner.     The  vaulting  of  the  hall   from  the  house 


IS6  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

door  to  the  cross  arm  (Plate  62)  has  painted  coffering  wrought  on  a  flat 
surface  in  the  same  ingenious  fashion. 

There  are  three  gardens,  the  upper,  middle  and  lower,  designated  on  the 
plan  respectively  as  A,  C  and  E.  (Plates  73,  75,  and  77).  The  upper 
garden  is  on  the  same  le\el  with  the  ground  floor  of  the  house.  Immediately 
before  the  house  is  the  lawn  B,  while  at  the  eastern  end  of  it  is  a  box  pleas- 
aunce  or  parterre,  C  (Plate  73),  the  entrance  to  which  is  marked  by  rusti- 
cated stuccoed  gate  piers  with  wyverns  atop  (Plate  74).  These  posts  and 
also  the  walls  of  all  three  gardens  are  of  the  same  salmon  colour  as  the  walls 
of  the  house. 

A  flight  of  steps  descends  from  the  western  end  of  the  upper  garden  to 
the  middle  garden  (Plate  75),  and  another  flight,  after  passing  through  a 
gateway,  brings  one  from  the  middle  to  the  lower  garden  (Plate  77).  The 
window  with  a  bulging  grille  (Plate  76),  in  the  south  wall  of  the  middle 
garden,  looks  down  upon  the  road  many  feet  below.  From  the  lower 
garden  a  short  flight  of  steps,  outside  the  postern  gate  (Plate  78),  goes  down 
into  the  olive  orchard. 

These  gardens  are  all  formally  planned  according  to  ancient  precedent, 
but  it  should  be  noted  that  they  are  of  modern  execution.  They  are  not  at 
all  lacking  in  a  full  and  varied  equipment  of  flowers,  but  their  chief  horti- 
cultural emphasis  is  derived  from  the  effective  arrangement  and  massing 
of  foliage. 


157 


rr  =  =  ■ 


"  o  ^  po  r^ 

;  ~  ;c-  a  2 


OC  _-J  C^   -n  4-   « 

c  K  1^-  n  ^  VI 

c  o  g  o  2  '> 
7  *<  3^  »  -:  ^ 

C'  «■•  ft    D-  3    ^ 

-i'  2  »  w 


w  3: : 

=  2-  c  - 


158 


ri-Alt  6U.      LANE  LLAUING   UOW  N    10  VILLA — VILLA  CAI'I'uM 


159 


Plate  61.      LANE    I,KAI)1\(.'   IP  TO   VILI.A— VILLA    CAPPOM 


i6o 


Plate  62.     ENTRANCE  HALL — VILLA  CAPPONI 


i6i 


1 6: 


1 63 


Plate  65.      SALONE — VILLA  CAPPONI 


164 


Plati:  6&.      FIREPLACE  IN   SALONE — VILLA  CAPPOM 


i6s 


Plate  57.     ENO  OF  SALONE — VILLA  CAPPOM 


t66 


Plate  68.      MORNING    ROOM— VILLA  CAPPONI 


1 67 


PI.ATF.  69.      DINING   ROOM — \1L1.A  CAl'l'l'M 


1 68 


169 


I70 


iiiiiliifa««Hiit. 

Plate  72.     LOGGIA  IN  GARDEN — VILLA  CAPPONI 


lyi 


172 


I'lATE   74.      GAIKWAV  TO   BOX  Pl,kA>Al  NLt — \  ll-I.A   LAI'IM.SI 


173 


174 


17  = 


I'l.AlE  77.     LOWER  (jAROEN  AND  TOOL— VILLA  CAPPOM 


176 


Plate  78.      POSTERN   GATE  IN   LOWER  GARDEN — VILLA   CAPPUNl 


THE   VILLETTA,    AT   THE    VILLA    PAL\HERI, 

SAN  DOAIENICO,  BETWEEN  FLORENCE 

ANDFIESOLE 

The  Villetta,  a  small  estate  now  incorporated  within  the  demesne  of 
the  Villa  Palmieri  at  San  Domenico,  not  far  outside  the  Barriera  delle 
Cure,  affords  the  visitor  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  archa'ologically 
valuable  treats  to  be  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Florence.  The  house  is  of 
great  antiquity,  dating  in  part  from  the  thirteenth  century,  and  such  res- 
torations as  it  has  undergone  have  been  so  ably  and  intelligentlv  carried 
out  that  one  finds  a  very  perfect  and  representative  bit  of  early  Renaissance 
domestic  architecture  unspoiled  by  modern  accretions. 

To  the  west  of  the  building,  and  overlooking  the  valley,  is  the  flag- 
paved  threshing  floor  (Plate  85),  an  important  adjunct  of  the  old  Tuscan 
villa  and  farmstead.  The  little  box  pleasaunce  before  the  south  front  of  the 
house  (Plates  83,  84  and  95)  is  a  restoration,  it  is  true,  but  the  ancient 
traditions  of  arrangement  have  been  observed  with  such  meticulous  care 
that,  upon  entering  it,  one  really  steps  back  four  centuries  and  leaves  the 
modern  world  behind.  The  old  well-head  (Plate  84)  at  one  end,  the 
gravelled  walks  and  the  box-edged  divisions  all  faithfully  conform  to 
Renaissance  gardening  usage.  Along  the  south  fagade  of  the  house  are  por- 
tions of  the  old  sgrafittrj  decoration,  pilasters,  friezes,  and  other  features 
of  Classic  provenance  (Plates  81,  83  and  84)  wrought  with  a  characteristic 
touch  that  vividly  recalls  the  great  age  of  Brunelleschi. 

The  little  walled  garden  to  the  east  of  the  house  is,  like  the  box  parterre 
at  the  south,  a  restoration.  Indeed,  it  might  be  more  accurate  to  say  that 
it  is  almost  wholly  a  new  creation.  Nevertheless,  it  is  so  true  in  every 
respect  to  the  spirit  of  the  old  enclosed  Tuscan  garden  that  it  deserves  more 
than  a  mere  passing  mention.  The  wall,  in  its  utilitarian  capacity,  sep- 
arates the  little  garden  plot,  adjacent  to  the  house,  from  the  higher  ground 
of  the  orchards  and  farm  land  beyond,  the  masonry  being  carried  enough 
above  the  level  of  the  higher  ground  to  shut  out  the  view  of  agri- 
cultural operations  and  bring  the  summit  to  the  foliage  line  of  a  row  of  ilex 
trees  which  thus  supply  a  soft,  rich  background  to  the  agricultural  lines. 
In  its  architectural  capacity  the  wall  not  only  makes  it  possible  to  have  a 
garden  where  otherwise  nothing  of  the  sort  could  exist,  but  it  is  also  the  chief 
factor  in  creating  a  little  area  of  elegant  and  urbane  seclusion  appropriate 
to  the  villa  it  adorns.  The  elements  entering  into  the  composition  are 
few  and  simple — the  matted  greenery  of  ivy  at  the  base,  the  sharp  con- 
trast of  a  line  of  masonry  whose  undulating  top  ramps  up  to  form  pedestals 
for  a  row  of  marble  busts,  and  the  dense  leafage  of  ilex  boughs  behind  and 
above — and  yet  the  trenchant  interest  produced  is  more  complete  than  it 
12  177 


178  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

oftentimes  is  in  places  where  far  more  elaborate  means  have  been  employed. 
Tlie  space  within  the  walled  enclosure  is  geometrically  laid  out  with  grav- 
elled patiis  and  box-edged  flower  beds,  a  fountain  and  pool  forming  the 
central  feature — all  in  accordance  with  Renaissance  gardening  tradition. 

The  general  plan  of  the  house,  owing  to  sundry  additions  and  adapta- 
tions that  took  place  at  an  early  date,  can  scarcely  be  considered  so  thor- 
oughly typical  as  the  plan  of  some  of  tiie  otiier  contemporary  villas  included 
in  this  volume,  but  the  Villetta  is  so  admirably  satisfying  and  full  of  inspi- 
ration in  many  other  ways  that  it  commands  our  closest  attention.  The 
loggia  (Plates  87  and  90),  which  is  exceptionally  beautiful,  was  at  one  time 
partially  walled  up.  The  removal  of  this  wall  has  opened  to  view  a 
charming  little  cortile  from  which  an  outside  stone  staircase  (Plate  90) 
ascends  to  the  first  floor  of  an  adjacent  part  of  the  house.  These  outside 
staircases,  as  it  has  already  been  pointed  out,  are  thoroughly  characteristic  of 
the  early  manner  of  building.  The  other  staircase,  serving  the  main  por- 
tion of  the  house,  is  virtually  an  outside  staircase  also,  for  It  Is  entered  from 
the  ground  floor  loggia  and,  making  one  turn,  ascends  directly  into  the  first 
floor  loggia  (Plate  92),  without  having  any  connexion  whatever  with  the 
rooms.  This  second  or  principal  staircase,  as  was  the  wont  of  the  period 
when  it  was  built,  is  exceedingly  simple  and  not  at  all  an  object  of  archi- 
tectural emphasis. 

It  is  a  matter  of  no  little  interest  at  tlie  Villetta  to  find  the  kitchen 
(Plate  91)  not  on  the  ground  floor  but  abovestairs.  This  arrangement  of 
having  the  kitchen  on  the  first  floor  seems  to  have  obtained  at  an  early  date 
in  not  a  few  instances,  but  wherever  such  a  scheme  once  prevailed,  the 
culinary  department  as  a  rule  has  since  been  transferred  to  the  ground  floor. 
The  kitchen  fireplace,  a  particularly  good  piece  of  work  in  both  design  and 
execution,  merits  notice  also  on  account  of  the  arched  niches  on  the  inner 
sides  of  the  cheeks. 

The  beamed  ceilings  of  the  ground  floor  rooms  claim  both  study  and 
admiration.  Fortunately  for  their  present  state  of  preservation,  they  were 
hidden  from  view  for  one  knows  not  how  many  years  by  false  ceilings  that 
had  been  put  in  presumably  to  reduce  the  height  of  the  rooms  and,  perhaps, 
make  them  easier  to  heat  in  winter.  ^Vhen  these  false  plaster  ceilings 
were  torn  out,  the  ancient  beamed  ceilings  were  disclosed  with  their  colours 
far  fresher  and  their  patterns  more  distinct  than  could  possibly  have  been 
the  case  if  the  false  ceilings  had  never  been  put  in.  No  two  of  the  old 
ceilings  are  alike  in  their  decoration.  In  one  room,  where  the  rough- 
hewn  timbers  are  headed  in  the  walls  without  the  amenity  of  supporting 
corbels,  both  beams  and  joists  bear  on  their  edges  a  bold  chevron  pattern 
in  a  colour  succession  of  blue,  white  and  red.  The  little  batten  strips  that 
cover  the  joints  of  the  boards  are  painted  blue  with  a  geometrical  figure  of 


THE  VILLETTA.  AT  TUE  VILLA  PALMIERI    179 

reil  nil  rc'ser\i'd  i)\  als  ot  wliiti'.  Tlu'  sclicmi'  i>  tluiroufilil)  simple  Init  hij^hl)' 
cft'ective.  In  anotlicr  room  the  edges  of  the  beams  liave  a  succession  of 
ovals  of  alternate  red  and  blue,  each  oval  charged  with  a  white  lozenge. 
The  joist  edges  are  red  with  a  succession  of  small  white  lozenges;  the 
battens  are  blue  with  white  ovals  charged  with  red  lozenges.  In  the 
saloiie  the  ceiling  system  is  more  elaborate  though  entirely  structural.  The 
beams  rest  on  corbels  carved  with  an  acanthus  leaf.  This  bit  of  carving  is 
painted  with  an  harmonious  distribution  of  red,  white,  blue,  black  and 
yellow.  At  the  sides,  the  innermost  moulding  adjacent  to  wall  and  beam 
is  red,  the  next  member  alternate  squares  of  white  and  blue ;  the  flat  cheek 
of  the  corbel  is  brown  with  a  red  acanthus  leaf  painted  on  it,  and  the 
edges  are  defined  by  a  small  saw-tooth  band  of  alternate  black  and  yellow. 
The  lower  edges  of  the  beams  are  blue  with  a  spiral  pattern  of  alternate 
black  and  white  stripes,  the  black  stripes  charged  with  white  reservations 
bearing  red  dots.  The  joists  are  edged  with  narrow  saw-tooth  bands  of 
black  and  yellow ;  the  battens  are  white  with  elongated  blue  quatrefoils  and 
red  half-quatrefoils  chequer-wise  while  the  edges  are  bounded  by  minute 
saw-tooth  bands  of  black  and  yellow.  In  all  three  rooms  the  battens  divide 
the  ceiling  space  into  rectangles  so  that  the  effect  approximates  that  of  a 
coffered  ceiling,  although,  as  stated  before,  all  the  ceiling  systems  are 
entirely  structural.  In  some  cases  where  the  boards  are  of  irregular  widths, 
the  batten  decoration  is  painted  on  a  flat  surface. 

Another  most  interesting  piece  of  painting  at  the  Villetta  is  a  fragment 
of  ancient  fresco  (Plate  88)  on  a  wall  within  the  loggia.  From  an 
archxological  point  of  view,  this  bit  of  fresco,  though  indistinct  and  nearly 
obliterated,  is  valuable  in  its  testimony'  to  Renaissance  methods  of  garden- 
ing and  garden  design.  As  previously  stated  in  Chapter  V.  of  the  Intro- 
duction, the  fresco  fragment  discovers  a  section  of  garden  wall  on  top  of 
which  an  ornamental  vase  contains  a  box-tree  that  the  topiarist  has 
fashioned  into  a  tall  standard  supporting  three  separate  spherical  masses 
of  foliage,  one  above  another,  diminishing  in  size  to  the  top.  Inside  the 
wall,  and  close  against  it,  a  thick  hedge  is  trimmed  with  an  undulating  top 
in  the  traditional  Tuscan  manner.  The  white  animal  on  the  flowered 
foreground  suggests  the  small  menageries  that  were  sometimes  kept  as  a 
part  of  the  garden  equipment.  An  interesting  allusion  to  this  practice 
occurs  in  the  introduction  to  the  Third  Day  of  the  Decameron.  After 
viewing  the  rest  of  the  garden  of  the  Villa  Palmieri,  the  Queen  and  her 
party  discover  a  remaining  delight  in  store  for  them : 

"  But  yet  another  beauty  (which  before  had  not  presented  it  selfe  to 
them)  on  a  sodaine  they  perceyved;  namely  divers  pretty  creatures  in  many 
parts  of  the  Gardens.  In  one  place  Conies  tripping  about;  in  another 
place  Hares ;  in  a  third  part  Goats  browsing  on  the  hearbes,  and  little  yong 
Hindes  feeding  every  where:  yet  without  strife  or  warring  together,  but 


i8o  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

rather  living  in  such  a  Domesticice  and  [ileasant  kinde  of  company,  even  as 
if  they  were  appointed  to  enstruct  the  most  noble  of  all  creatures,  to  imitate 
their  sociable  conversation." 

Boccaccio's  Decameron ;  anonymously  done  into  English,  162^. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  wall  of  the  garden  to  the  east  of  the  house 
is  shaped  with  undulations  very  like  those  in  the  fresco.  It  is  not  at  all 
improbable  that  the  fresco  painter  took  his  motif  from  some  nearby  garden 
wall  actually  existing  when  he  wrought  his  mural  decoration.  Who 
knows?  It  was  characteristic  of  the  old  Italian  painters  to  take  their 
subjects  from  their  immediate  surroundings  and  pourtray  them  faithfully. 
In  many  a  ^•illa  are  preserved  mural  decorations,  generally  of  a  later  date, 
however,  depicting  various  views  of  the  estate. 

The  illustrations  and  plan  convey  such  full  information  concerning 
the  Villetta  that  further  verbal  comment  could  but  repeat  what  the  ej'e 
perceives  in  greater  detail  and  much  more  quickly. 


i8i 


Plate  79.      GROUND  FLOOR  AND  GARDEN  PLANS — ^THE  V'lLLETTA.   VILLA   PALMIERI. 
SAN   DOMENICO,    NEAR  FLORENCK 


KEY  TO   PLAN 


1.  Loggia 

2.  3.  4.  and  5.  Chambers 

6.  Stair 

7.  Salone 


8.  Ante- room 

9.  Bathroom 

10.   Later  Buildings 
n.  Slables 


l82 


I  S3 


Plate  bl.     EMRAXCt— IHL  X  ILI.EIIA 


i84 


I'l-Art  S:.     FORTUNE.   DETAIL — THE  VILLETTA 


18S 


i86 


pl\ie  s-i.    wkix-head  in  box  pleasaunce— the  vii.letta 


187 


i88 


PLATE  S7.      LOGGIA  AND  CnRTILF.    ENTRANCE  TO  STAIRCASE  THROUGH   ARCH  AT  END.— THE  VILLETTA 


i89 


Plate  88.     FRAGMENT   OF   FOURTEENTH    ChAllKV   1  RESCO  IN 
GROUND   FLOOR  LOGGIA — THE  XlLl.ETTA 


Plate  89.      .\V  CKNTURY  ARMORIAL   FRESCO   IN   LOGGIA— THE  VILLETTA 


igo 


KllLE  AND   OUTSIDE  STAIKCASE — THE  VILLETTA 


191 


Hlatk  VI.      Klll-HKN    AM)   KIR  EFLACE— THE   VILLE'ITA 


19^ 


193 


194 


Plate  9S.     HOUSE  DOOR   A\n    BOX   PLEASAINCE — THE  VTLLETTA 


THE  VILLA  CELSA,  NEAR  SIENA 

Celsa,  about  eight  or  nine  miles  distant  from  Siena,  is  a  castellated 
villa  of  the  ancient  type,  occupying  a  commanding  hillside  position,  the 
land  falling  away  abruptly  into  a  wooded  valley  at  the  south,  across  and 
beyond  wliich  there  is  a  distant  outlook  over  rolling,  ludf-nKiimtainous 
country. 

In  its  dominant  characteristics  (Plates  98  and  102)  the  building  is  of 
thirteenth  or  early  fourteenth  century  pattern,  but  from  time  to  time  it 
has  undergone  various  alterations  and  additions  so  that  its  austere  pristine 
aspect  has  been  somewhat  modified.  In  plan,  the  buildings  extend  about 
three  sides  of  the  tortile,  but  the  cortile,  instead  of  being  at  least  approxi- 
mately rectangular,  is  shaped  like  a  blunted  wedge  (Plate  98),  the  head 
of  the  wedge  lying  open  to  the  south  while  the  north  block  and  the  con- 
verging east  and  west  blocks  of  the  castle  structure  bound  it  on  the  other 
three  sides. 

The  long,  open  south  side  of  the  cortile  is  separated  from  the  road  and 
the  garden  beyond  by  a  seventeenth  century  screen  (Plates  97,  98  and  99). 
This  screen,  in  three  bays,  is  of  unmistakably  Baroque  provenance  in  its 
design.  Nevertheless,  the  difference  in  inspiration  creates  no  conflict  with 
the  older  structure  that  the  screen  supplements.  The  wrought  iron  gate 
(Plate  101)  and  the  grilles,  in  the  two  flanking  arches,  add  a  touch  of 
refinement  that  enhances  the  charm  and  interest  of  the  composition. 

Outside  the  screen  is  a  planted  terrace  (Plate  97)  and,  outside  this 
again,  a  balustraded  wall.  Then  comes  the  driveway,  beyond  which  another 
balustraded  wall,  somewhat  lower  than  the  terrace  wall  just  mentioned, 
bounds  the  parterre.  This  parterre,  which  lies  at  the  top  of  the  steep 
southern  slope,  and  was  evidently  created  nr  else  much  re-arranged  about  the 
same  time  the  screen  and  balustraded  walls  were  built,  is  divided  in  two 
parts  by  a  wide  ramped  walk  (PI rite  98)  with  short  flights  of  steps  at 
frequent  intervals. 

The  little  garden  of  the  Villa  Celsa  fortunately  escaped  the  devastating 
path  of  that  misguided  passion  for  the  giardino  in gl e se  v:\\\ch.  swept  over 
Italy  like  a  tornado,  ruining  the  courtly  creations  of  the  old  garden 
designers.  The  early  formal  plan  with  all  its  inherent  dignity  has  remained 
unspoiled  and  completes  the  symmetry  and  poise  of  the  last  piece  of  composi- 
tion by  which  the  villa  was  graced.  In  contemplating  even  so  small  a 
garden,  one  cannot  fail  to  be  conscious  of  the  enlightened  vision  that  inspired 
the  Baroque  architects  and  garden  designers  and  to  recognise  their  complete 
mastery  of  the  art  they  professed. 

Baldassare  Peruzzi  is  known  to  have  had  some  connexion  with  the 
Villa  Celsa  and  the  beautiful  round  chapel  (Plates  97  and  100),  standing 
by  itself  near  the  southeast  angle  of  the  castle,  has  been  attributed  to  his 

195 


196  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

design.  This  attribution  is  presumably  well  founded  for  the  chapel  is  a 
remarkably  fine  piece  of  composition  and  does  credit  to  that  renowned 
master  to  whose  hand  it  is  ascribed.  The  castle  itself  antedates  his  time, 
and  the  screen,  balustraded  walls  and  garden,  which  are  not  at  all  in  his 
manner  are  much  too  late  for  him  to  have  had  anything  to  do  with  them. 
On  the  north  front  of  the  castle,  the  entrance  from  the  bridge  across  the 
moat  has  a  fine  Renaissance  doorway  (Plate  102)  which  might  have  been 
designed  by  Baldassare  Peruzzi,  but  barring  this  single  feature  the  Chapel 
is  the  only  work  that  bears  witness  to  Peruzzi's  genius. 

The  massive  grey  rubble  walls  of  the  castle,  pierced  with  Gothic 
windows  (Plates  98  and  102),  the  east  tower  reminiscent  of  the  Bargello 
in  Florence  (Plate  97),  and  the  two  stern  western  towers  with  battle- 
mented  tops  (Plate  98)  not  only  contribute  materially  to  the  impressive 
vigour  of  this  ancient  stronghold,  but  are  also  eloquent  reminders  of  a 
period  when  the  polite  refinements  of  life  within  were  enjoyed  only 
at  the  price  of  constant  vigilance  and  readiness  to  withstand  violence 
from  without. 


197 


Plate  96.     PLOT  PLAN — VILLA  CELSA.  NEAR  SIENA 


KEY  TO   PLAN 


1.  Castcllo 

2.  Towers 

3.  Cortile 

4.  Loggia 

5.  Screen 

6.  Well  Head 

7.  Drawbridge 


8.  Dry  Moat 

9.  Dependencies 
10.  Planted  Terrace 
n.  Chapel 

12.  Road 

1!.  Garden 


198 


Plate  97.      tM  RANCE.    PART  Ol'  SOUTH   FRONT  AND  CHAPEL — VILLA   LI 


199 


Plate  98.     bOL  IH   FRONT,   CORTILE  SCREEN   AND   GARDEN— VILLA  CELbA 


200 


Plati    'W.     (.ATtWAY  AND    DETAIL  OF  CORTILE  SCREEN — VILLA  CELSA 


20I 


Plate  100,     THE  CHAPEL— VILLA   CELSA 


202 


Pi-ATE   101      WEI.I.  HEAD  IN  CORTILE — VILLA   CELSA 


203 


IL  TREBBIO,  IN  THE  MUGELLO 

Grim  old  Trebbio,  towering  from  tbe  lofty  summit  of  a  precipitous 
hill,  almost  as  difficult  of  access  as  the  eyrie  of  an  eagle,  strictly  speaking 
does  not  belong  amongst  the  villas  at  all.  It  is  included  in  this  volume,  how- 
ever, because  it  is  an  admirable  example  of  the  type  of  building  (Plate  103) 
from  which  many  villas  were  derived  by  a  process  of  remodelling  and 
addition,  or  which,  again,  many  of  them  replaced.  It  is  a  close  connecting 
link  with  such  buildings  as  the  Villa  Celsa,  near  Siena ;  it  shews  the  stages 
of  the  rudimentar\  de\elopment  of  domestic  accommodations  in  connexion 
with  the  stronghold;  and,  finally,  it  doubtless  served  in  some  measure  as 
a  prototype  when  Cosimo  the  Elder  caused  IMichelozzi  to  build  Cafaggiuolo 
for  him  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  on  whose  top  II  Trebbio  rears  its  ancient  walls 
(Plate  106).  It  belongs  to  the  JNIiddle  Ages,  but  it  also  has  its  connexion 
with  the  Early  Renaissance. 

II  Trebbio's  historical  bearing  that  has  the  most  immediate  interest  for  us 
is  its  association  with  the  boyhood  of  Cosimo  de'  Medici,  the  first  Grand 
Duke  of  Tuscany.  On  June  nth.,  in  the  Year  of  Grace  1519,  the  son  of 
Giovanni  delle  Bande  Nere  was  born  in  the  house  of  his  mother's  family,  the 
Palazzo  Salviati  in  Florence.  As  soon  as  tidings  of  the  birth  of  their  lord's 
heir  reached  them,  the  peasants  at  II  Trebbio  lighted  bonfires  on  all  the  hills, 
and  answering  fires  flamed  up  throughout  Tuscany.  It  was  indeed,  an 
omen  of  the  lustre  the  newborn  infant  was  destined  to  shed  upon  his  house 
and  upon  the  land  of  his  birth. 

Maria  Salviati  soon  took  her  little  son  to  the  quiet  of  II  Trebbio,  and 
there  "  she  watched  him  grow  tall  and  strong  and  active,  and  consoled 
herself  as  best  she  could  with  his  society  for  the  scandalous  unfaithfulness 
of  her  husband."  Here,  in  the  intervals  between  his  sundry  journeyings, 
much  of  Cosimo's  early  life  was  passed  in  the  free  air  of  the  Mugello,  with 
his  mother  and  tutor  for  company  part  of  the  time,  surrounded  by  a  dozen 
or  more  of  his  father's  veteran  soldiers,  and  spending  a  portion  of  nearly 
every  day  in  hunting,  hawking  and  coursing  of  hounds,  or  in  kindred  rustic 
diversions.  It  was  doubtless  from  this  manner  of  life  at  II  Trebbio  during 
his  most  impressionable  years  that  Cosimo  derived  that  passion  for  the 
chase  that  clung  to  him  to  the  end  of  his  days. 

It  was  at  II  Trebbio  that  he  received  word  of  his  election  as  Duke  to 
succeed  his  ill-fated  cousin  Alessandro.  And  after  his  marriage  to  Eleonora 
of  Toledo,  his  affection  for  II  Trebbio,  when  the  cares  of  state  permitted, 
now  and  again,  brought  him  and  his  wife  and  all  the  court  thither  for  a 
few  days  of  relaxation.  A  letter  of  one  of  his  courtier's  gives  us  a  glimpse  of 
the  life  during  one  of  these  visits: 


2o6  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

"  Yesterday  evening,"  writes  Pagni,  in  August,  1542,  "  There  was  great 
good  cheer  at  il  Trebbio,  and  the  wines  and  water  were  so  cold  that  they 

lay  heavy  on  most  stomachs and  this  morning,  for  all  that 

the  beds  were  none  too  soft,  everyone  slept  until  the  first  hour  of  the  day, 
when  his  Excellency, who  was  the  soonest  astir, had  the  trumpet  sounded,  and 
without  any  hounds  or  hawks  with  him,  went  off  to  Scarperia " 

Despite  tlie  stern,  fortress-like  exterior  (Plates  103,  104  and  106)  of 
II  Trebbio,  the  interior  has  ample  provision  for  domestic  comfort.  There 
are  spacious,  well  lighted  saloni  and  large  airy  chambers  which  are  quite  as 
pleasant  as  those  to  be  found  in  many  of  the  villas  of  a  later  and  more  urbane 
age.  Notwithstanding  the  comparati\ely  restricted  area  covered  by  the 
castle,  there  is  space  for  an  agreeable  little  garden  (Plate  105)  within  the 
walls.  The  cortile,  in  the  centre  of  the  structure  (Plate  107),  has  one  of 
the  ancient  characteristic  outside  staircases  of  simple  but  interesting  design. 
To  compensate  for  the  toilsome  climb  to  II  Trebbio,  there  are  views  from 
the  windows  and  from  the  battlements  of  the  tower  that  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  surpass  for  inspiring  beauty. 


207 


ri^v  : 


lOi.      GATEWAY  —  II      IKHil.l",    IN     i  Hh    Ml  I.I  l-lli 


2o8 


2C9 


I'lATE  106.      NORTHEAST  ANGLE — IL  TREBBIO 


2IO 


CAFAGGIUOLO,  IN  THE  MUGELLO 

"  The  palace  of  Cafaggiuolo  in  the  Mugello,"  so  Vasari  tells  us,  was 
designed  by  Michelozzo  Michelozzi  for  Cosimo  the  Elder,  "  Pater  Patrias," 
in  the  guise  of  a  fortress  amid  the  woods,  the  copses  and  other  matters  apper- 
taining to  fine  and  famous  villas."  In  1747  Doctor  Brocchi  wrote  an 
history  of  the  Mugello  and  therein  describes  Cafaggiuolo  as  "  buift  after  the 
fashion  of  an  ancient  fortress  with  sundry  towers,  and  moats  round  it  and 
drawbridges.  Inside  is  a  large  chapel  dedicated  to  the  Saints  Cosimo  and 
Damiano,  protectors  of  the  royal  house  of  Medici.  There  are  likewise 
many  halls  and  great  rooms,  with  various  courtyards,  loggie  and  galleries, 
which  make  it  (though  according  to  ancient  fashion)  very  noble  and 
magnificent." 

What  exterior  the  buildings  presented  in  their  ancient  condition  we 
may  see  from  the  old  print  (Plate  109),  and  how  the  gardens  were  arranged, 
as  well  as  the  outward  aspect  of  the  castle,  we  may  gather  from  an  old 
painting  of  the  place  as  it  was  before  the  demolition  of  the  central  tower 
and  the  removal  of  the  outer  walls,  moat  and  drawbridge  (Plate  108). 
As  will  be  seen  from  the  last  mentioned  illustration,  the  walled  gardens, 
back  of  the  castle,  were  laid  out  with  geometrical  formality,  while  at  the 
far  end  were  garden  buildings  of  an  evidently  imposing  character.  The 
stables,  and  other  dependencies,  were  ranged  along  the  east  side  of  the 
castle,  and  outside  the  outer  walls,  a  position  they  still  occupy.    (Plate  no). 

To  reach  this  historic  castle  in  the  Mugello,  the  very  cradle  of  the 
Medici  race,  it  is  necessary  to  travel  about  eighteen  miles  to  the  north  of 
Florence,  along  the  Via  Bolognese,  through  mountain  scenery  of  such  sort 
as  is  to  be  found  only  in  Tuscany.  It  was  veritably  a  safe  enough  retreat  for 
Cosimo's  family  during  times  of  turmoil  and  danger  in  Florence. 

Notwithstanding  the  austere  external  aspect  of  Cafaggiuolo  (Plates  no 
and  113),  the  interior  is  neither  gloomy  nor  uncomfortable  in  its  arrange- 
ments. Cosimo  and  his  family  found  it  an  agreeable  place  of  residence  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  and  to-day  the  disposition  of  its  halls  and  chambers 
is  still  compatible  with  a  luxurious  and  cheerful  mode  of  rural  life.  The 
single-handed  clock,  on  the  face  of  the  tower  above  the  portone  (Plate  in), 
or  else  a  sun-dial  in  an  equally  important  position,  is  a  feature  generally 
to  be  found  somewhere  about  early  Tuscan  castles  and  villas.  Entering  the 
portone  (Plate  112),  carriages  and  carts  can  drive  through  the  high  barrel- 
vaulted  passage  into  the  cortile  in  the  centre  of  the  building.  The  entrance 
to  the  cantitia  is  at  one  side  of  the  cortile  (Plate  n4)  and  here  the  casks  of 
wine  are  stored,  for  the  estate  of  Cafaggiuolo  is  still  conducted  in  the  old, 
patriarchal  way.  The  painted  decorations  on  the  walls  and  vaulting  of 
the  salone  (Plate  n5)  and  dining-room  (Plate  lib)  are  modern,  but  they 
have  been  executed   in  strict   accordance   with   ancient   precedent,   and   as 

211 


212  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

other  much  defaced  and  obliterated  painted  decorations  of  a  similar  charac- 
ter were  there  before  them,  they  are  virtually  restorations. 

The  architectural  style  of  Cafaggiuolo  is  not  what  we  should  expect  of 
the  early  part  of  the  fifteenth  century  when  it  was  built,  nor  is  it  what  we 
should  expect  of  the  genius  of  Michelozzo,  but  it  was  the  wish  of  Cosimo 
to  have  it  constructed  as  a  castle  without  any  essential  departure  from  the 
medieval  plan  of  building.  His  motive  may  have  been  to  have  a  strong- 
hold dwelling  that  would  be  safe  in  event  of  any  uprising.  Curiously 
enough,  in  executing  this  unusual  commission,  Michelozzo  employed  many 
classical  details  to  grace  a  purely  mediaeval  body. 

It  is  with  the  purely  domestic  side  of  life  in  the  Medici  household  that 
Cafaggiuolo  is  associated  rather  than  with  the  stormy  political  events  or 
splendid  pageantry  that  one  thinks  of  in  connexion  with  the  Palazzo  in 
Florence  or  the  princely  villa  of  Poggio  a  Cajano.  These  intimate 
glimpses,  however,  are  no  less  engaging  in  their  way  and  help  us  to  realise 
the  very  human  side  of  the  actors  in  the  dramatic  history  of  the  Renaissance. 

Cafaggiuolo  and  Careggi  were  Cosimo  the  Elder's  two  favourite  country 
retreats,  and  of  the  two  he  is  said  to  have  preferred  Cafaggiuolo  "  because 
all  the  country  he  saw  from  the  windows  belonged  to  him."  Here  Lorenzo 
the  Magnificent  and  his  brother  Giuliano  spent  much  of  their  boyhood,  and 
many  letters  in  the  Medicean  archives,  written  to  Piero  de'  Medici  by  the 
fattore  at  Cafaggiuolo,  afford  interesting  side  lights  on  the  doings  of  the 
boys  and  how  the  time  was  spent  in  the  country.  In  April,  1467,  the  fattore 
writes :  "  Yesterday  we  went  a-fishing  and  they  caught  enough  for  their 
dinner  and  returned  home  at  a  reasonable  hour;  to-morrow,  if  they  will,  we 
go  out  riding  after  dinner  and  begin  to  shew  them  the  estate  as  you  ordered." 
In  August  of  the  year  following  this  entry  occurs:  "  Madonna  Contessina 
[the  grandmother  of  Lorenzo  and  Giuliano]  and  the  boys  are  well,  may 
God  preserve  them.  Lorenzo  wants  to  smooth  the  ground  in  front  of 
Cafaggiuolo.  Here  we  stand  in  need  of  wax  and  tallow  candles.  I  told 
Madonna  Contessina,  and  she  said  I  was  to  take  white  Venetian  ones;  but 
they  appear  to  me  too  honourable  for  Cafaggiuolo.  If  it  seems  so  to  you 
also  tell  Madonna  Lucrezia  [Lucrezia  Tornabuoni,  the  wife  of  Piero  and 
mother  of  the  boys]  to  send  us  others,  and  at  all  events  let  tallow  ones  be 
sent  for  common  use.  Yester-morn  Madonna  Contessina,  Lorenzo  and 
Giuliano  with  the  household  went  on  horseback  to  the  Friars  of  the  Wood 
and  heard  High  Mass.  Madonna  rode  Lorenzo's  mule,  and  was  astonished 
to  find  herself  more  agile  than  she  had  expected.  As  it  seems  to  please  her 
we  shall  go  to  Comugnole  and  about  in  the  plain  to  have  a  little  amusement, 
but  always  with  two  footmen  at  her  stirrup,  and  we  shall  do  what  we  can  to 
save  her  all  fatigue  and  trouble  in  the  management  of  the  house.  The 
bo)'s  are  having  a  happy  time  and  go  bird-catching  and  shooting  and  return 
at  a  reasonable  hour;  they  enliven  her  and  the  neighbourhood."     Lorenzo's 


CAFAGGIUOLO,  IN  THE  MUGELLO  213 

love  of  the  country  and  natural  poetic  bent  were  doubtless  strengthened  by 
the  periods  spent  in  the  Mugello.  As  young  men  Lorenzo  and  Giuliano  with 
their  friends,  often  attended  the  fairs  and  weekly  markets  in  the  Mugello 
and  thereby  increased  their  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  ways  of  the 
country  folk. 

After  the  Conjuration  of  the  Pazzi  and  the  murder  of  Giuliano,  Lorenzo 
sent  his  family  to  Cafaggiuolo  for  safety.  As  Vaughan,  in  his  Medhi 
Popes,  observes : 

"  The  dark  forests  of  pine  and  fir,  the  fleecy  flocks,  the  rough  but  kindly 
shepherds  of  tiie  hills,  the  keen  air  of  the  wind-grieved  Apennines,  must 
have  had  their  early  influence  on  any  son  of  Lorenzo  the  Poet,  who  loved 
dearly  the  life  and  people  of  the  Tuscan  country-side.  But  in  strange  con- 
trast with  the  rural  surroundings  of  airy  Cafaggiuolo  on  its  distant 
mountain-top  must  have  seemed  the  conversations  overheard  by  the  sharp 
ears  of  the  children  between  their  tutor,  Angelo  Poliziano,  and  the  handsome 
young  Pico  della  Mirandola,  or  the  abstruse  arguments  indulged  in  by  their 
father  with  the  learned  Marsilio  Ficino  on  the  chance  occasions  when 
Lorenzo  was  able  to  join  his  family  in  their  country  retreat.  But  more 
often  Politian  was  left  alone  with  his  charges  and  their  mother,  whose  views 
by  no  means  coincided  with  those  of  their  chosen  preceptor.  Fiercely  did 
the  anxious  Clarice  [Clarice  Orsini]  wrangle  with  Politian  over  the 
methods  of  education  which  she  wanted  to  be  conducted  on  her  old- 
fashioned  lines,  the  tutor  complaining  meanwhile  to   Madonna  Lucrezia, 

Lorenzo's    mother, to    whom    in    an    amusing    letter    he    sends 

a  comically  dismal  account  of  the  daily  life  at  Cafaggiuolo,  which  was  by 
no  means  a  residence  to  the  taste  of  the  fastidious  scholar."  The  i8th  of 
December,  1478,  he  writes: 

"  The  only  news  I  can  send  you  is  that  we  have  here  such  continual 
rains  that  it  is  impossible  to  quit  the  house,  and  the  exercises  of  the  country 
are  exchanged  for  childish  sports  within  doors.  Here  I  stand  by  the  fireside 
in  my  great  coat  and   slippers,  so  that  you  might  take  me  for  the  very 

figure  of  Melancholy Were  we  in  Florence,  we  should  have 

some  consolation,  were  it  only  for  that  of  seeing  Lorenzo,  when  he  returned 
home  ;  but  here  we  are  in  continual  anxiety,  and  I  for  my  part  am  half- 
dead  with  solitude  and  weariness.  The  plague  and  the  war  are  incessantly 
in  my  mind.  I  lament  past  evils,  and  I  have  no  longer  at  my  side  my 
dear  Madonna  Lucrezia  to  whom  I  might  unbosom  my  cares." 

Besides  complaining  to  Lucrezia,  Politian  did  not  hesitate  to  upbraid 
Clarice  to  her  own  husband  for  "  wasting  the  time  of  his  most  promising 
pupil,  the  precocious  little  Giovanni,"  afterwards  to  become  Pope  Leo  X, 
"  by  forcing  him  to  squander  his  newly  acquired  power  of  reading  in  spelling 
through  the  Psalms  of  David  instead  of  the  masterpieces  of  antiquity."  He 
writes  to  Lorenzo:  "  His  mother  sets  him  to  read  the  Psalter,  of  whicli  I  do 
not  approve.  When  she  does  not  interfere  with  him  he  makes  most  won- 
derful progress."  On  the  other  side,  Clarice  writes  to  Lorenzo:  "  ...  I 
do  not  like  Messer  Angelo  Poliziano  threatening  to  remain  in  the  house  in 
spite  of  me.  You  remember  I  told  you,  that  if  it  was  your  will  he  should  stay, 
I  was  perfectly  contented  ;  and  although  I  have  suffered  infinite  abuse  from 


214  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

him,  yet  if  it  be  with  your  consent,  I  am  satisfied.  But  I  cannot  believe  this 
to  be  the  case."  Lorenzo  finally  settled  the  bickerings  at  Cafaggiuolo  by 
advising  Politian  to  remove  to  the  Villa  Medici  below  Fiesole.  Here  the 
spoiled  humanist  soon  recovered  his  equanimity  and  composed  his  Rusticus. 
while  Madonna  Clarice  engaged  a  priest  to  continue  Giovanni's  education. 

It  was  to  Cafaggiuolo  that  Lorenzino  de'  Medici  fled  after  murdering  his 
cousin  Alessandro  and  waited  to  see  how  the  news  would  be  received  in 
Florence.  Learning  that  messengers  had  arrived  at  II  Trebbio  to  summon 
Cosimo  to  Florence,  he  fled  post  haste  to  Venice.  It  was  to  Cafaggiuolo,  in 
April  1533;  that  Caterina  de'  Medici,  later  to  become  Queen  of  France,  had 
gone,  accompanied  by  a  bevy  of  noble  maidens  as  her  ladies  in  waiting,  to 
meet  and  welcome  Margaret  of  Austria,  the  illegitimate  daughter  of 
Charles  V.,  the  affianced  bride  of  that  same  Duke  Alessandro  whom 
Lorenzino  afterwards  murdered. 

Quite  apart  from  the  connexion  with  that  rare  old  maiolica  called  by  its 
name,  Cafaggiuolo  has  its  associations  with  some  of  the  greatest  names  in 
Tuscan  art.  Vespigiano,  the  birthplace  of  Giotto,  is  not  far  distant,  and 
not  much  farther  is  the  fortified  village  of  Vicchio  where  Fra  Angelico  spent 
his  early  years.  More  intimate  still  is  the  association  with  Donatello.  Piero 
de'  Medici,  conformably  to  the  wishes  of  his  father,  Cosimo  the  Elder, 
presented  Donatello  with  an  house  and  farm  belonging  to  the  estate.  De- 
lighted at  first,  upon  becoming  a  landed  proprietor,  after  a  year's  experience 
of  farming  Donatello  besought  Piero  to  take  back  the  gift.  "  Life,"  he  said, 
"  was  far  too  short  to  be  spent  in  listening  to  the  incessant  complaints  of  an 
ignorant  and  tedious  peasant,  whose  roof  was  always  being  carried  off  by  the 
wind,  his  crops  damaged  by  hail,  or  his  cattle  seized  for  arrears  of  taxes. 
Piero  laughed  heartily  at  Donatello's  inability  to  cope  with  the  astute 
Mugello  peasant  and  exchanged  the  farm  for  a  pension. 


215 


2l6 


217 


2l8 


FIAIE    111.      hA^l     TdWtR    \M1    l-NIKWl'l    -f  \  1   \u( .  Ilol  ( 


219 


Plate  112.      PORTONE — CAFAGGIUOLO 


220 


Plate  IIS.     HAST  AND  NORTH  FRONTS— CAFAGGIUOLO 


I'lATE  114.    THt  CORl  ii,i:~CAKA(;(,iroi.o 


221 


Plate  115.     SALONE— CAFAGGIUOLO 


POGGIO  A  CAJANO 

PoGGio  A  Cajaxo,  lying  about  ten  miles  to  the  west  of  Florence  on  the 
road  to  Pistoia,  according  to  an  old  tradition,  takes  its  name  from  an  ancient 
Roman  citizen,  one  Caio,  who  is  said  to  have  owned  a  villa  in  tiuit  place.  As 
a  matter  of  actual  history,  we  know  that  the  site  was  once  occupied  by  a 
fortress  belonging  to  the  Cancellieri  family  of  Pistoia,  who  sold  it  in  1420  to 
Messer  Palla  di  Noferi  Strozzi  for  7390  golden  florins.  The  Strozzi  altered 
the  ruinous  fortress  into  a  villa  which  for  a  long  time  was  called  the  Villa 
Ambra,  a  name  taken  from  the  little  stream  nearby.  Being  confiscated  from 
the  Strozzi,  the  estate  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Rucellai  and  others,  from 
whom  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent  acquired  it  in  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  He  thereupon  entrusted  to  Giuliano  da  Sangallo  the  task  of  re- 
constructing and  embellishing  the  villa.  This  work  Sangallo  completed 
about  1485.  The  villa,  as  we  see  it  to-day,  is  substantially  as  Sangallo  left  it, 
with  the  exception  of  the  horse-shoe  staircase  and  the  maiolica  frieze  above 
the  loggia.  The  staircase  (Plates  118  and  119),  is  by  Stefano  d'Ugolino  da 
Siena,  and  the  blue  and  white  frieze  (Plate  120)  was  executed  by  one  of  the 
Delia  Robbia  family. 

From  the  time  of  Lorenzo,  Poggio  a  Cajano  was  a  favourite  residence  of 
the  Medici,  and  different  members  of  that  powerful  family  spent  money 
lavishly  in  enriching  it,  especially  Pope  Leo  X  and  the  first  Grand  Dukes. 
It  was  Leo  X  who  employed  Andrea  del  Sarto,  Franciabigio  and  Pontormo 
to  decorate  with  frescoes  the  great  barrel-vaulted  hall  (Plate  125)  which 
Sangallo  had  constructed  especially  to  please  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent. 
Other  painters  and  architects  from  time  to  time  had  an  hand  in  the  enrich- 
ment of  Poggio  a  Cajano,  amongst  them  Filippino  Lippi,  Alessandro  Allori, 
Giorgio  Vasari,  and  Bartolommeo  Ammanati,  of  whom  the  last  named  added 
a  corbelled  staircase  (Plate  126)  and  a  fireplace  (Plate  127)  in  the  apart- 
ments of  the  infamous  adventuress,  Bianca  Cappella  who  finally  achiex-ed  her 
ambition  to  become  the  Grand  Duchess  of  Tuscany. 

The  grounds  and  park  of  Poggio  a  Cajano,  according  to  contemporary 
descriptions  and  evidence  of  an  old  painting  (Plate  117)  must  once  have 
been  a  triumph  of  Renaissance  garden  design.  Unfortunately,  the  guirdino 
inglese  madness  was  responsible  for  the  destruction  of  the  ancient  scheme 
and  now  little  remains  save  an  uninteresting  and  unedifying  collection  of 
decent  commonplaces  where  once  was  beauty.  The  clock  of  Baroque  design 
surmounting  the  eaves  above  the  loggia  (Plate  118)  was  not  a  part  of 
Sangallo's  scheme  but  was  added  much  later,  as  old  pictures  of  the  fagade 
testify.  The  pediment  bearing  the  Medici  stem  ma  flanked  by  long  ribbon 
streamers  carved  in  high  relief  (Plate  120)  badly  upsets  the  scale  of  the 
composition,  and  there  are  one  or  two  other  painful  incongruities  the  pres- 
ence of  which  it  is  hard  to  explain.     The  loggia,  seen  from  within   (Plate 

223 


224  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

!2i),  however,  is  a  superb  piece  of  work  and  goes  far  towards  atoning  for 
flaws  that  are  apparent  from  other  points  of  view. 

So  imposing  was  the  aspect  of  Poggio  a  Cajano  that  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.,  \vhen  he  spent  a  day  there  in  May,  1536,  observed  that  "  such 
walls  were  not  meet  for  a  private  citizen,  and  before  leaving  for  Lucca  he 
created  the  bastard  Alessandro  de'  Medici  Duke  of  Tuscany,"  making  this 
incident  an  excuse  for  complying  with  the  importunities  on  that  score  to 
which  he  had  been  subjected  for  some  time  previously. 

It  was  at  Poggio  a  Cajano,  in  the  latter  part  of  June,  1539,  that  Duke 
Cosimo  and  his  bride,  Eleonora  of  Toledo,  whom  he  was  fetching  from  Pisa, 
spent  several  days  prior  to  their  state  entry  into  Florence.  Cosimo  writes  to 
his  father-in-law,  Don  Pedro  of  Toledo:  "The  Signora  Duchessa  and  I 
have  now  come  here  to  il  Poggio,  a  spot  near  the  city,  where  we  shall  rest 
until  Sunday  which  will  be  the  day  of  her  Excellency's  entry  into  Florence." 
This  period  of  "  rest  "  was  a  season  of  brave  doings  and  festivities,  and 
Vasari  has  left  a  picture,  now  in  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  pourtraying  Eleonora's 
arrival  in  state  at  the  villa,  whither  she  was  to  come  so  often  afterwards  on 
hunting  expeditions  when  her  sport-loving  husband  moved  from  place  to 
place  with  much  of  his  court  in  attendance. 

That  such  attendance  was  not  always  wholly  relished  by  the  courtiers,  in 
an  age  of  practical  jokes,  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  extract  from 
a  letter  written  by  one  of  the  Duke's  secretaries  to  his  Major-Domo,  who 
was  in  Florence  :  "  As  Vostra  Signoria  knows,  these  Bishops  are  ever  curious 
to  learn  beforehand  what  his  Excellency  desires  to  do.  Yesterday,  the  sun 
being  hidden  and  the  weather  tolerably  cool,  his  Excellency,  with  intent  to 
go  hunting,  dined  early  and  said  that  he  desired  to  go  riding.  Whereupon 
the  Bishops  and  one  or  two  others  were  burning  to  know  whither  he  pro- 
posed to  ride,  and  therefore  his  Excellency  and  the  Major-domo  resolved 
to  play  them  a  trick  and  announced  that  his  Excellency  designed  to  go 
hunting  beyond  the  hills  that  are  towards  Civita,  and  to  lie  last  evening  at 
Stabbia,  going  thence  this  morning  to  Pistoia.  And  on  this  the  Major-domo 
had  some  of  the  mules  loaded,  taking  care  to  pack  their  Excel- 
lencies' bed.  Seeing  this,  there  was  the  greatest  noise  and  uproar  in  the  world 
among  the  Bishops  and  gentlemen,  and  each  had  his  goods  packed  and  sent 
towards  Stabbia  ....  and  their  Excellencies,  when  the  chase  was  ended, 
returned  to  il  Poggio,  saying  that  it  was  too  late  to  go  to  Stabbia,  and  began 
to  laugh  and  jest  over  these  curious  folk  who  had  neither  beds  nor  lug- 
gage .   .   .   .,"  an  exquisite  joke  that  caused  merriment  all  the  evening. 

Twenty-six  years  after  the  first  arrival  of  the  Duchess,  Eleonora  of 
Toledo,  at  Poggio  a  Cajano,  Francesco,  the  son  of  Cosimo  and  Eleonora, 
met  his  bride,  the  Arch-Duchess  Joan  of  Austria  at  the  same  place.  During 
Joan's  lifetime,  Poggia  a  Cajano  was  the  favourite  residence  of  the  infamous 
Bianca  Cappella,   Francesco's  mistress  and,  after  Joan's  death,  his  second 


POGGIO  A  CAJANO  225 

wife.  The  story  goes  that  upuii  the  occasion  of  a  \isit  from  Cardinal 
Ferdinando  de'  Medici  at  Poggio  a  Cajano,  in  the  autumn  of  15.S7,  tlic 
amiahle  Bianca  with  her  own  hands  prepared  a  pie  for  her  brother-in-Liw. 
Fortunately  for  the  Cardinal,  he  declined  to  eat  it,  but  Francesco,  suspecting 
nothing,  ate  heartily  of  it,  whereupon  Bianca  in  desperation  did  the  same.  As 
a  result,  botli  Francesco  and  Bianca  died  not  long  after  from  the  ef^'ects  of 
the  poison  Bianca  had  intended  for  the  Cardinal.  The  Cardinal  then  suc- 
ceeded to  the  Grand  Duchy. 

The  morose  Cosimo  III  and  his  wife,  the  Princess  Marguerite  Louise, 
daughter  of  the  Due  d'Orlcans  spent  some  time  at  Poggio  a  Cajano  and  it 
was  to  Poggio  that  this  unfortunate  and  indiscreet  lady  retired  for  some  time 
after  her  escapades  of  tickling  the  cook  had  induced  a  severe  reprimand  from 
her  sedate  spouse  and  before  she  finally  returned  to  Paris  to  spend  the  balance 
of  her  life  "  in  love  and  intrigue." 

For  many  years  Poggio  a  Cajano  was  a  part  of  the  Crown  Estates  but 
is  now,  by  a  gift  of  the  King,  the  property  of  the  Nation. 


228 


229 


Plate  119.     STAIR  AND  TKRRACK  DKTAIL.S.  SOUTH  FRONT — POGGIO  A  CAJANO 


230 


231 


Plate  121.     WITHIN  THE  LOGGIA.   SOUTH    FRONT — POGGIO  A  CAJANO 


232 


f■KK\(^,     -Ml     III    lh'ip\i        I'uiiOK.)    A    CAJ.WU 


Plate  123.      EAST  FRONT.    FROM   GARDEN — POGGIO   A   CAJANO 


^33 


Plate  124.     GROTTO  UNDER  NORTH  TERRACE — POGCIO  A  CAIANO 


234 


Plaie   1:5.      URtAl     HALL — POGCIU   A    CAJANO 


235 


PLAik   126.     STAIRCASE,   ANTEROOM.   APARTMENTS  ol'  UIANCA  CAPPELLA  — l'Oi;i;I()   A    CAJANO 


Plate  127.      FIRtPl.ACE.      liV       UARl  Ol.o.MMEu    AM.MANAl  1. 

ANTEROOM.  APARTMENTS  OK  BIAM.A  CAPPELLA— 

POGCIO  A  CAJANO 


LE  CORTI,  NEAR  SAN  CASCIANO,  VAL  DI  PESA 

Although  Le  Corti  has  been  perched  upon  its  lofty  liilltop  for  six 
centuries,  or  perhaps  somevv^iat  longer,  its  present  form  dates  from  the  early 
part  of  the  sixteenth  century  (about  1520)  when  the  villa  was  greatly  en- 
larged and  its  aspect  recast  to  accord  with  the  accepted  architectural  ideals 
of  the  period.  The  bold  mass  is  singularly  imposing  and,  with  its  distinctive 
twin  towers  (Plate  131 ),  the  upper  storeys  of  which  contain  the  seigneurial 
dovecotes  (Plate  134),  the  building  seems  to  dominate  the  whole  country- 
side. The  towers  appear  to  have  been  constructed  solely  as  a  pleasing  conceit 
of  the  architect's  invention  as  there  is  no  evidence  of  either  of  them  being  a 
survivor  of  the  ancient  type  of  fortified  tower,  to  which  allusion  has  been 
made,  as  the  nucleus  about  which  the  later  dwelling  grew.  Indeed,  their 
position  at  the  extreme  angles  of  the  structure  would  negative  such 
an  hypothesis. 

In  plan  the  house  is  an  hollow  square  built  about  a  large  stone-pa\ed 
cortile  (Plates  136  and  137)  with  an  arcaded  and  vaulted  loggia  extending 
around  all  four  sides  of  the  ground  floor.  There  were  originally  loggias  on 
the  east,  west,  and  north  sides  of  the  first  floor  as  well,  but  these  were  walled 
in  at  a  later  date  (Plate  136)  to  form  long  galleries,  one  of  which,  the 
eastern,  is  the  family  portrait  gallery  (Plate  141 )  wherein  the  owner.  Prince 
Corsini,  has  gathered  together  a  most  interesting  collection  of  originals  and 
copies,  arranged  in  chronological  sequence.  Apart  from  their  historical  value, 
the  paintings  afford  a  valuable  commentary  upon  Italian  portraiture  for 
many  centuries  back.  The  north  gallery  (Plate  142)  is  given  over  to  a  col- 
lection of  prints,  while  the  western  (Plate  139)  is  the  chapel  gallery.  The 
principal  staircase  ascends  from  the  western  loggia  of  the  ground  floor  and 
gives  access  to  the  chapel  gallery  directly  beside  the  doorway  (Plate  138) 
into  the  ante-chapel. 

In  the  chapel  itself,  which  contains  an  altar-piece  and  frescoes  by 
Bernardino  Poccetti,  the  walls  are  hung  with  alternate  breadths  of  blue  and 
yellow  brocade  (Plate  140)  upon  which,  in  reverse  colour,  are  appliques  the 
foliated  patterns  while  the  flowers  thereon  are  fully  embroidered.  All  of  this 
is  cinquecerito  work  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  stitchery  may  have  been 
done  by  the  ladies  of  the  family  as  a  task  of  devotion. 

The  stuccoed  walls  of  the  exterior  are  of  a  warm  brownish  grey  which 
shews  tawny  salmon  in  the  light  of  the  westering  sun.  The  shutters  are 
painted  the  customary  light  green.  The  trims  of  the  doorways  and  windows 
are  of  a  brownish-toned  pietra  serenii.  While  the  rustication  of  the  east 
and  west  doorways  (Plates  132  and  133)  is  exceedingly  bold  and  vigorous, 
the  mouldings  of  the  stonework  exhibit  a  notable  degree  of  refinement. 

Unlike  most  of  the  villas  of  the  neighbourhood,  Le  Corti  stands  forth  in 
severe  and  independent  isolation,  in  the  midst  of  an  unadorned  and  treeless 

237 


238  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

plateau  without  any  mollifying  agency  of  gardens,  boscheria,  or  viale  of 
cypresses  as  items  of  immediate  environment.  Nevertheless,  its  aspect  is 
not  harsh.  The  fine  old  vialc  of  huge  cypresses,  which  ascends  the  hill  from 
the  gate  (Plate  129)  and  whimsically  turns  at  right  angles  after  achieving 
the  summit,  so  as  to  fetch  a  straight  approach  to  the  east  front,  stops 
abruptly  about  eighty  yards  from  the  house,  leaving  an  impressive  vista 
between  the  terminal  trees  (Plate  130). 

On  the  north  and  south  sides,  beyond  the  low  bounding  walls,  the  ground 
falls  rapidly  away  through  orchards  and  vineyards,  while  on  the  west  side, 
just  below  the  verge  of  the  hill,  is  the  formal  flower  garden  (Plate  143)  with 
its  box-edged  beds  and  its  rows  of  lemon  trees  in  huge  earthen  pots,  its 
arrangement  following  the  old  traditions. 

Considered  as  an  entire  composition — house  and  environment  together — 
Le  Corti  presents  a  striking  combination  of  virile  austerity  and  restraint 
along  with  finished  refinement  and  delicacy,  a  combination  which  must  be 
dwelt  upon  for  some  time  before  one  becomes  conscious  of  its  full  force. 


^39 


■    ■       IK-  ;l      I  I 


Plate  128.     PLOT  PLAN— LE  CORTI.  SAN  CASCLWO.   VAL  Dl  PESA 
KEY  TO  PLAN 
1.  Conile  I.  Cypress  Viale 


Left.  2.  Loeeia 

J.   Body  of  House 


Right  2.  Lawn 

!.    House 
4.    Flower    Garden 


240 


I  111^   f,AII       IK  CORTI.  NEAR  SAN  CASCIANO 


HI 


242 


Plate  H2.      SOLTH  AND  WKST  FRONTS — LE  CORTI 


243 


244 


Plate  li5.    NORTH  DOOR— LE  CORTl 


245 


Plate  H 6.     THE  C0R1  III  —  I  I    CciKIl 


h6 


PiATi:  H7.      IHh   SIAIKCASE  FROM  THE  C■|)K•^a.^— Lh  CiiKIl 


H7 


I'LAlt  lis.     THE  CHAPEL  DOOR.    FROM    IHE  ANTE-CHAPEL. — LE  L'ORll 


1^8 


Plate   1!9.     THE  CHAPEL   GALLERY — LE  CORIl 


249 


Pl.ATK   140.     THE  CHAPEL  WALL— I. K  CORTI 


2qO 


2;i 


252 


VILLA  DEI  COLLAZZL  NEAR  TAVARNl'ZZE 

The  Villa  del  CoUazzi,  near  Tavarnuzze,  in  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
parts  of  Tuscany,  not  many  miles  to  the  south  of  Florence,  was  built  early  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  and  if  there  be  any  truth  in  a  persistent  local  tradition, 
it  was  designed  by  no  less  a  person  than  Michelangelo.  We  know,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  actual  history,  that  he  was  a  close  friend  of  IVIesser  Agostino  Dini  for 
whom  the  villa  was  planned  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  Castel  Buondelmonti. 
Baldinucci  records  that  "Santi  di  Tito,  scholar  of  Bronzino  in  painting,  and 

of  Vasari  in  architecture,  worked  for  Agostino  Dini  at  Giogoli 

For  this  same  Agostino  he  also  painted  one  of  his  finest  altar-pieces."  This 
statement,  however,  is  no  proof  that  the  conception  was  not  Michelangelo's. 
From  what  we  know  of  Michelangelo's  many  unfinished  imdertakings  and 
of  the  pressure  under  which  he  worked,  it  is  not  at  all  improbable  that  Santi 
di  Tito  may  have  been  called  upon  to  carry  to  completion  the  work  begun  by 
the  greater  master.  Furthermore,  bits  of  evidence  gleaned  from  sundry 
private  archives,  seem  to  confiirm  the  correctness  of  the  attribution  to 
Michelangelo's  design.  In  any  event,  certain  it  is  that  the  Villa  dei  Collazzi 
is  quite  worthy  of  his  authorship. 

The  approach  is  from  the  east  and  a  fine  viale  of  cypresses  (Plate  144) 
brings  one  directly  upon  a  broad  terrace  (Plate  147)  immediately  before  the 
principal  or  north  front  of  the  villa.  The  traditional  Tuscan  plan  of  build- 
ing the  house  about  the  cortile  was  observed,  the  cortile  being  enclosed  on 
three  sides  and  open  on  the  fourth.  The  design  of  the  building,  with  its  two 
tiers  of  loggias  (Plates  149  and  151)  about  the  cortile,  is  in  itself  most 
engaging,  but  apart  from  that,  one  of  the  features  that  most  forcibly  im- 
presses the  visitor  is  the  noble  breadth  of  scale  upon  which  tlie  whole 
structure  is  planned.  Some  idea  of  the  scale  may  be  obtained  from  the 
fact  that  the  platform  (Plates  145  and  146)  occupied  by  the  stone-paved 
cortile  is  more  than  eighty  feet  across  between  the  east  and  west  wings. 

Crowning  the  summit  of  a  high  eminence,  the  Villa  dei  Collazzi  com- 
mands an  enchanting  outlook  over  the  Val  d'Arno,  and  the  rising  ground 
beyond,  "where  villas  are  strewn  like  diamonds  on  the  sunlit  hills."  In  tiie 
nearer  foreground  are  the  pine-covered  slopes,  and  the  vineyards  and  olive 
orchards. 

The  entrance  through  the  loggia  (Plate  148)  admits  one  directly  to  the 
great  hall  (Plates  156  and  157),  an  enormous  apartment  with  a  barrel 
vaulted  ceiling.  The  frescoed  panels  framed  about  with  plaster  mouldings 
in  high  relief  are  not  co-eval  with  the  house,  but  were  added  during  the 
eighteenth  century.  From  this  great  hall,  at  each  side,  open  out  series  of 
rooms  and  passages.  Elsewhere  than  in  the  great  hall,  many  of  the  rooms 
on  the  ground  floor  have  beamed  ceilings,  the  moulded  corbels  supporting  the 

253 


254  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

beams,  the  beams,  the  joists,  and  the  boards  bearing  the  floor  above,  exhibit- 
ing painted  decorations  in  the  manner  already  described  in  the  introductory 
chapters.  Other  rooms,  where  the  ceilings  are  not  beamed  and  embellished 
with  painting,  are  ceiled  with  lunette  vaulting. 

The  stuccoed  walls  are  of  a  warm  brownish  colour,  rather  more  brown 
than  is  the  case  wkh  many  other  villas  of  this  date.  The  trims  and  pillars 
are  of  pietra  serena  in  which  the  brown  tones  often  predominate  over  the 
colder  grey  that  one  so  often  finds,  especially  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Fiesole. 

Whether  or  not  one  chooses  to  credit  the  tradition  attributing  the 
authorship  of  the  Villa  dei  Collazzi  to  Michelangelo,  it  is  perfectly  patent 
that  the  structure  has  more  architectural  pretension  than  most  of  the  con- 
temporary villas  in  the  vicinity.  Whoever  the  architect  may  have  been,  he 
displayed  a  knowledge  of  compostion  and  balance  of  no  mean  order.  There 
is  a  satisfying  finality  about  the  whole  conception  that  proclaims  the  genius 
of  the  designer,  and  this  quality  is  quite  as  evident  in  the  south  front  (Plate 
155)  as  in  the  north.  In  the  matter  of  detail  (Plates  150  and  152-154), 
also,  there  is  discernible  the  nicest  discrimination  that  came  not  by  accident, 
and  close  scrutiny  again  and  again  reveals  a  pleasing  and  all  too  rare  com- 
bination of  adroit  delicacy  with  vigour. 


255 


%iivj 


;^n. 


2s6 


Plate  145.     Al'PKuACII   luLUKlll.l — \  ll.l.A  DLI  L  ULLAZZI 


2S7 


Pi  ml    141..      t\  1  It  V     t  E  TO  C0RT1LE~VILLA  DEI   C(  ll.l.A/./,l 


258 


259 


t'lAli      14,^.      MiRlH    I.'M.(,1A  —  \  ll.i.A  1)1-1  Li)LI.AZ/.l 


26o 


14')       SOUTHWEST  ANGLE  OF  CORTILI-     -\11-1.-,    IJl.l   L  '   I.l.AZ/.l 


26 1 


_^         'i^y-**  --  "Cg-^ 


-" 

IPIP         V 

1 

ialMtdllH' 

1 

,„„ 

■^i^ntani' 

^HHHn 

^UvBi^Miiiiaii^biea^^^^dl 


Plate  150.      DOORWAY   1\  WHST  WING — VILLA    UKI  COLLA/ZJ 


262 


Kill  \n    AM)   FIKSI'   Fl.iKiR    l,iM;r;|\ik — VILLA    DEI   COLLAZZl 


■7    '^\]^<^?^5^^^^^W^BH|pMM 

Pi  AM     H:-      ■.linn    LIU. (MA.    IIRSl     I  LI  "I  R-     \ILI.A    1)11    (   I1LLA7.Z1 


263 


I'l-AiE  IS!,      DKTAIL,    FIRST  KLOOR  LOGGIA.   NORTH   FRONT— VILLA   Dlil  CULLAZZ 


264 


Plate  154.     DETAIL,  FIRST  FLOOR  LOGGIA.  SOUTH  FRONT  -  VILLA  DEI  COLLAZZI 


265 


llAli     1     V       MiL    IH    FRON  1 — \ll.l,.\    UtI    til.l.A/ZI 


266 


Plaii-:    1S6.      l.KHAl     HMI^\I1.I   \    hi  I    I  <  ilA.V/V.l 


"^ TTT 

Pi  ATE  1S7.     FIREFLACE  IN    GREAT  HALL— VILLA    DEI   COLLAZZl 


THE  VILLA  BELCARO,  NEAR  SIENA 

Belcaro,  situate  about  three  miles  to  the  southwest  of  the  Porta  Fonte- 
branda,  was  once  a  medieval  castle  but  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century  was  remodelled  by  Baldassare  Peruzzi  for  the  Turamini  family  and 
converted  into  a  most  urbane  and  delicately  beautiful  villa,  although  in  cer- 
tain particulars  some  of  the  original  character  of  the  dour  old  stronghold 
was  retained. 

Crowning  the  extreme  spur  of  an  hill,  Belcaro  is  plainly  visible  for  a  long 
distance  to  those  approaching  from  almost  any  direction — a  site  of  great 
natural  strength  and  manifest  defensive  value  in  an  age  of  chronic  warfare, 
likewise  a  site  that  keenly  stimulates  the  imagination  in  this  more  pacific  age 
of  ours  by  its  peculiarly  dramatic  emphasis.  Viewed  from  afar — and,  indeed, 
the  illusion  continues  until  one  comes  very  near — Belcaro  appears  as  a  low 
oblong  building  resting  upon  an  immense  close-cropped  cushion  of  luxuriant 
green.  This  curious  impression  is  produced  by  a  dense  growth  of  ancient 
ilex  trees,  completely  surrounding  and  concealing  the  walls,  their  tops 
trimmed  of?  even  with  the  tops  of  the  battlements.  And  as  you  walk  along 
on  the  battlements  you  are  still  haunted  by  the  notion  of  being  partially  en- 
gulfed in  a  cushion  of  living  green,  fur  the  tops  of  the  ilex  trees  { Plate  172), 
on  a  line  with  your  middle,  spread  far  outward  from  the  walls  with  the  even- 
ness and  close  texture  of  a  gigantic,  well  trimmed  hedge.  As  may  be  readily 
imagined,  a  walk  on  the  battlements  about  the  circuit  of  the  walls  produces 
an  unique  sensation  with  a  strong  dash  of  unreality  about  it.  From  the 
belvedere  (Plate  172)  built  at  the  top  of  a  bastion  there  is  a  truly  inspiring 
view  for  miles  over  country  that  beggars  description. 

The  curious  site  of  Belcaro,  with  almost  precipitous  declivities  on  nearly 
every  side,  imposed  limitations  upon  any  extensive  metamorphosis  of  the 
mediaeval  castle  into  a  Renaissance  villa.  Furthermore,  the  Turamini  seem 
to  have  felt  the  necessity  of  preserving  some  of  the  defensive  character  of  the 
place.  Even  after  its  transformation,  Belcaro  was  well  able  to  withstand 
assault.  As  a  matter  of  actual  fact,  Belcaro  did  hold  out  for  a  time  against 
Cosimo  I.  de'  Medici,  and  was  bombarded  by  his  cannon,  during  that 
memorable  campaign  that  ultimately  humbled  Siena  and  made  Cosimo 
master  of  all  Tuscany.  A  memorial  of  this  siege  (Plate  173)  is  still  to  be 
seen  in  the  cannon  balls  embedded  in  one  of  the  walls,  "  pills  of  misery,"  and 
a  tablet  inscribed  with  the  legend  that  follows: 

FERREOS  TORMENTORUM  GLOBOS 

QUI  BUS 

COSIMO  MKDICEO  SEXAS  OBSIDENTE 

AN:  MDLIV 

CA  STRUM  HOC 

IMPETITUM  EXPUGXATUMQUE  I'UIT 

AD  MEMORIAM  SERV.\TOS 

HOSPES  INTUERE 

269 


270  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

In  view  of  the  conditions  confronting  him,  Peruzzi,  therefore,  confined 
his  efforts  toward  polite  embellishments  to  the  space  within  the  walls.  De- 
parting from  the  time-honoured  and  hitherto  commonly  accepted  usage — a 
usage  often  attributed  to  the  survival  of  Etruscan  tradition — that  placed  the 
cortile  either  wholly  within  the  body  of  the  house  or,  at  least,  enclosed  it  on 
three  sides  with  the  structure  of  the  dwelling,  Peruzzi  adopted  an  entirely 
different  plan.  Along  the  north  side  of  an  oblong  brick-paved  cortile  or 
courtyard  he  placed  the  d\\elling  (Plates  162  and  164),  along  the  south  side 
he  ranged  the  dependencies  (Plate  165)  in  a  uniform  mass  with  a  facade  of 
formal  treatment,  while  the  east  and  west  ends  he  closed  with  screens 
(Plates  160,  161  and  166).  The  loggia  as  an  important  domestic  adjunct 
he  dispensed  with.  In  this  process  he  changed  the  centre  of  organisation. 
The  cortile  was  still  the  centre  of  organisation,  but  the  distribution  of  the 
major  units  of  the  plan  was  different.  The  cortile  and  the  structures  open- 
ing upon  it  were  thoroughly  symmetrical  and  balanced  in  their  disposition; 
the  asymmetrical  parts  of  the  scheme  were  shut  off  by  the  screens  at  the  east 
and  west  ends  of  the  courtyard.  Outside  the  west  screen  is  the  outer  court- 
yard (Plate  160)  which  is  entered  through  a  strongly  fortified  gateway 
(Plate  159)  with  massive,  iron-bound  doors;  beyond  the  eastern  screen  is  the 
parterre  (Plate  i6g),  at  one  side  of  which  is  the  cliapel  nestling  in  an  angle 
of  the  outer  walls.  Running  through  the  whole  scheme  it  is  easy  to  detect 
a  note  of  modernism — to  perceive  a  definite  break  with  the  customs  of  the 
Middle  Ages  and  the  Early  Renaissance  alike,  and  the  dawn  of  a  fresh 
architectural  impulse. 

The  dwelling  is  a  compact,  oblong  mass  (Plates  164  and  169)  whose 
walls  are  covered  with  a  smooth,  light-coloured  stucco  while  the  details  are 
wrought  in  the  native  limestone  that  more  or  less  resembles  Roman  travertin. 
It  is  a  masterly  composition  characterised  by  urbane  simplicity.  It  is  that 
kind  of  simplicity,  however,  that  discloses  under  careful  analysis  the  com- 
plexities and  subtle  judgement  that  have  entered  into  its  achievement.  The 
perfect  balance  of  proportions  and  exquisite  delicacy  of  restrained  detail 
could  never  be  the  result  of  chance  or  of  haphazard  designing.  Genius  and 
skill  combined  are  the  indispensable  pre-requisites  to  the  accomplishment  of 
such  a  finished  performance. 

The  fagade  of  the  dependencies  (Plate  165)  on  the  south  side  of  the 
courtyard  is  no  less  gratifying  than  the  fagade  of  the  dwelling  opposite. 
Indeed,  in  one  way  it  is  even  more  gratifying,  because  it  is  more  unusual, 
considering  the  nature  of  the  buildings  thus  dignified  by  a  seemlv,  well- 
matured  scheme  of  embellishment.  The  treatment  accorded  these  sub- 
sidiary buildings  has  quite  as  much  poise  and  distinction  as  the  rest  of  the 


THE  VILLA  BKLCARCX  NEAR  SIENA        271 

composition.  Furthermore,  there  is  a  pleasing  touch  of  diversity  in  the 
materials  employed.  The  walls  are  of  a  tawny  pink  brick  while  the  door- 
ways (Plate  167),  belt  courses  and  other  details  are  of  the  coarse-grained 
limestone  used  elsewhere. 

Although  the  manner  in  which  Pcruzzi  treated  Belcaro  is  academic  and 
severely  restrained,  the  most  confirmed  romanticist  could  not  complain  that 
adherence  to  academic  standards  in  any  way  stifled  his  spontaneity,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  discover  more  striking  examples  of  well-schooled  but 
wholly  untrammelled  in\ention  than  are  to  be  seen  in  the  design  of  both  the 
west  and  east  screens  (Plates  160,  161,  i6j,  166  and  ib8). 

The  parterre  beyond  the  east  screen  is  planned  according  to  the  formal 
conception  of  the  age  of  its  creation.  Any  other  treatment  of  so  small  a  space 
would  inevitably  be  grotesque.  It  is  only  b\-  adhering  to  tlie  ancient  methods 
that  the  best  can  be  got  out  of  it. 

Belcaro  is  unique  amongst  Tuscan  villas  in  its  conditions  and  environ- 
ment. It  is  not  a  thing  that  could  be  reproduced.  It  is  not  a  thing  that 
anyone  ought  to  wish  to  reproduce.  Divorced  from  its  own  special  setting 
and  from  its  own  particular  past  it  would  be  meaningless.  But  Belcaro  is 
likewise  a  rare  architectural  jewel,  and  apart  from  its  signihcance  as  a 
landmark  in  a  new  era  of  villa  design,  it  is  a  storehouse  replete  with  inspi- 
ration and  invaluable  lessons  for  them  that  have  eyes  to  see  and  the  wdl 
to  learn. 


273 


^74 


Plate  159.     OUTER  GATE — VILLA  BELCARO 


Plate   160.      WEST  SCREEN    OF  COR  I  IIJ.   ASH  in    IIK    i  ol  R  1    -VILLA  BELCARO 


275 


Plate  Ibl.      ENTRANCE  THROLGH  WEST  SCREEN — VILLA   BELCARO 


PlAir:   152.      CORTlI.l     IK'iM    i,\ll     1\    W  KM    SCREEN — VILLA   BELCARI) 


276 


Platr  16!.     DOOR  DETAII.  WEST  SCREEN  OF  CORTILE — VILLA  BELCARO 


'-11 


Piute  164.     SOl^TH   FRONT  AND  CORTH.i; — VII.UA  BEI-CARO 


278 


Plate  155.     SOUTH  SIDE  OF  CORTILK — VILLA   BELCARO 


I'l  \iE  166.     EAST  SCREEN  OF  CORTILE — VILLA  Bin   \Ri 


279 


28o 


Plate  168.     WELL  HEAD  IN  EAST  SCREEN  OF  CORTILE— VILLA  BELCARO 


'281 


282 


Pl.ATH   170.     SOUTHWKSr   ANGL1-: — VILLA   BELCARO 


283 


Plate  171.     l-.AM    IRON  I     \MI  WAI  K  o\    |;M  l  l,h  \ll  \  1  ^    -VII.I.A  BEI.CARO 


^84 


Plate  172.     BKLVEDERE  AND  WALK  ON  BATTLEMENTS — VILLA  BELCARO 


yy.f"     ()>)  TOI'ME.NTORV  M  GLOr 
(«i-.MO  MUDiC.  ')    'XN^i  OB'SinF.N  ; 
CASTHS-V1   I^O:. 

I'lccrfi'vn  EXr»v6NArvMovi.  fvit 

A')  MiMOKIAM  SF.RVAtOS 
HOSPE«:  INTVERt 


PLAfE'171.      LANNON    HALLs   AM)    lABI.EI    IN   WALL— VILLA   BELCARO 


VICOBELLO,  NEAR  SIENA 

\'iC0BELi.0,  crowning  a  low  hilltop  over  against  Siena,  to  the  southeast 
of  the  city,  is  a  notable  example  of  the  sixteenth  century  Sienese  villa  and 
has  retained  its  sixteenth  century  characteristics  without  irrelevant  changes 
and  additions  of  later  date.  Although  the  casino  or  dwelling  is  well  worthy 
of  the  part  it  plays  in  the  complete  conception,  it  is  the  general  composition 
considered  in  its  entirety  that  fascinates  the  visitor  and  evokes  unqualified 
admiration.  \'icobello  is  ascribed  to  the  design  of  Baldassare  Peruzzi,  and 
there  is  every  reason  to  credit  him  as  the  creator  of  this  surpassingly  beau- 
tiful retreat,  both  on  the  grounds  of  visible  evidence  and  also  on  the  score 
of  historic  probability,  for  when  the  Chigi  family  were  going  to  establish 
a  new  country  residence  it  was  more  than  likely  that  they  would  engage 
the  services  of  one  of  the  foremost  architects  of  the  day,  especially  when  that 
same  architect  was  so  closely  associated  with  Siena  where  he  had  already 
left  numerous  evidences  of  his  skill. 

After  ascending  the  hill  outside  the  walled  enclosure  of  the  villa,  a  short 
lane  brings  us  to  an  arched  entrance  through  the  width  of  a  long  narrow 
building  that  contains  the  stables,  coach-house,  cantina,  servants'  quarters 
and  other  dependencies,  and  forms  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  oblong 
courtyard.  To  the  north  the  courtyard  is  open  and  beyond  its  limits  is  an 
extensive  park  with  broad  avenues  of  ilex  trees  and  shady  walks.  To  the 
west  the  courtyard  is  bounded  by  the  house,  sundry  minor  buildings  and  the 
chapel,  which  is  quite  detached  from  the  dwelling.  To  the  south  the  boun- 
dary consists  of  a  wall  which  separates  the  courtyard  from  the  parterre. 

In  this  plan  we  see  that  the  house  now  consists  of  a  single  rectangular 
mass,  the  corlile  or  courtyard  being  kept  altogether  outside  the  limits  of 
the  dwelling  proper  and  treated  as  the  central  connecting  space  about  w^hich 
the  house  and  all  the  dependencies  are  grouped.  This  scheme  of  organisa- 
tion, it  will  be  observed,  is  in  a  general  way  similar  to  that  which  obtains 
at  Belcaro,  where  the  present  arrangement  is  also  Peruzzi's  work. 

To  the  west  of  the  house  and  parterre  are  the  different  gardens  (Plates 
180-184)  descending  at  various  Icxels,  according  to  the  lie  of  the  land.  In 
studying  Vicobello  one  cannot  fail  to  be  impressed  by  the  continuity  and 
coherence  of  the  whole  scheme,  elements  entirel}-  lacking  in  some  of  the 
earlier  villas  where  the  arrangement  is  more  or  less  fortuitous  owing  to  suc- 
cessive stages  of  growth  through  the  centuries.  Vicobello,  indeed,  gives 
every  evidence  of  having  been  designed  as  a  complete  whole.  In  this  con- 
nexion, IVIr.  Piatt's  characterisation  of  many  Italian  \illas  is  thoroughly 
apposite  when  he  writes:  "  The  evident  harmony  of  arrangement  between 
the  house  and  surrounding  landscape  is  what  first  strikes  one  in  Italian 
landscape  architecture — the  design  as  an  whole,  including  gardens,  terraces, 
groves,  and  their  necessary  surroundings  and  embellishments,  it  being  clear 

2S5 


286  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

that  no  one  of  these  ct)nipiint'nt  parts  was  ever  considered  independently, 
the  architect  of  the  house  being  also  the  architect  of  the  garden  and  the 
rest  of  the  villa.  The  problem  being  to  take  a  piece  of  land  and  make  it 
habitable,  the  architect  proceeded  with  the  idea  that  not  only  was  the  house 
to  be  lived  in,  but  that  one  still  wished  to  be  at  home  while  out-of-doors;  so 
that  the  garden  was  designed  as  another  apartment,  the  terraces  and  groves 
still  others,  where  one  might  walk  about  and  find  a  place  suitable  to  the 
hour  of  the  day  and  feeling  of  the  moment,  and  still  be  in  that  sacred 
portion  of  the  globe  dedicated  to  one's  self." 

The  house  or  casino  at  Vicobello  (Plates  178  and  179)  is  a  striking 
example  of  beautiful  and  restrained  composition.  To  one  accustomed  to 
the  richly  picturesque  quality  of  the  earlier  villas,  or  the  florid  exuberance 
and  imposing  circumstance  of  many  of  the  villas  built  during  the  Baroque 
age,  the  calm  mien  of  Vicobello  may  at  first  seem  a  trifle  austere  and 
academic.  But  study  its  elevations  for  a  little,  and  the  study  begets  a 
sense  of  satisfying  conviction.  The  just  proportions  and  well  considered 
balance  in  every  particular  ultimately  exert  that  compelling  force  that 
only  elegant  and  reasoned  simplicity  can  achieve.  The  walls  are  coated 
with  light  stucco  and  all  the  details  are  wrought  in  tlie  warm  cream- 
coloured  native  limestone  that  closely  resembles  the  Roman  travertin  but 
is  of  finer  grain. 

The  two  chief  focal  points  of  interest  and  charm  in  the  courtyard  are 
undoubtedly  the  well-head  (Plate  175)  beside  the  entrance  archway,  and 
the  gateway  (Plate  176)  into  the  parterre.  Beautiful  as  this  gateway  is 
in  its  every  detail,  and  much  as  that  beauty  is  enhanced  by  the  rare  mellow- 
ness of  age,  one  becomes  well-nigh  oblivious  of  it  all  through  the  sheer 
dramatic  force  of  the  vista  that  awaits  the  gaze  upon  looking  through  the 
arch.  Down  a  long  box-bordered  gravel  walk,  at  the  oposite  end  of  the 
parterre,  rises  a  stately  tribune  (Plate  177)  sharply  silhouetted  against  a 
background  of  deep  green,  spike-topped  cypresses.  With  the  westering  sun 
illumining  this  spendid  tour  de  force,  one  beholds  a  transcendent  example 
of  the  working  of  that  unerring  dramatic  instinct  that  guided  the  early 
Italian  garden  architects  and  gave  a  sparkling  vitality  to  so  much  of 
their  work. 


t87 


288 


Plate  175.     WEU.  HEAD  IN  CORTILE — VICOBELLO 


289 


Plate  176.     GATEWAY  1  Kii\l  i.(jRlll.l 


INK)  FARTERkE — VICOBELLO 


290 


Plate  177.     TERMINAL  NICHK  IN  GARDEN — VICOBELLO 


2<)I 


PlATE   I7S.     SOUTH    FRONT — VICOBEI.LO 


292 


Plate  180.      BELVEDERE.    LOWER   G.\RDEN — VICOBELLO 


293 


294 


Hi  AlE  18!.     GARDEN  STAIR   WITH   ESPAI.IERED  TREES — VICniiEI.I 


295 


I'LATK  IS-I.      STAIR    FROM   TOWER   GARDEN    AT  TERRACE— WLlillKl.i.u 


THE  VILLA  DEL  ARCIVESCOVO,  NEAR  LUCCA 

The  Villa  del  Arcivescovo,  but  a  few  miles  outside  of  Lucca,  an  estate 
belonging  to  the  Archbishopric  of  Lucca,  is  a  spot  to  which  the  Archbishops 
may  well  have  delighted  to  repair  during  the  heat  of  summer  or  the  golden 
days  of  the  Tuscan  autumn.  It  affords  none  of  the  thrills  incident  to  a 
spectacular  setting,  as  do  many  other  Tuscan  villas.  It  commands  no  broad 
outlook  to  fascinate  the  eye.  There  are  none  of  the  triumphs  of  garden 
planning  to  enhance  the  environment.  There  are  no  water  courses,  nor 
pools,  nor  fountains,  such  as  other  villas  in  the  vicinity  possess.  There  is 
only  the  fat  farming  country  all  about,  dotted  with  the  dwellings  of  the 
contadtni.  The  house  itself  is  small  and  unpretentious,  and  the  sole  mark 
of  seigneurial  state  is  the  small  bosco  or  park,  a  little  distance  to  the  east 
of  the  house,  which  you  enter  through  a  gateway  with  piers  designed  in  a 
restrained  Baroque  manner  (Plate  193).  But,  all  the  same,  the  place  is 
instinct  with  the  compelling  charm  of  dignity  and  domestic  repose,  set 
against  a  well-ordered  agricultural  background,  yet  without  any  suggestion 
of  bucolic  rudeness.  This  air  of  refinement,  despite  the  close  proximity  of 
all  the  farming  operations,  the  reader  has  probably  discovered  by  this  time 
is  one  of  the  mysteries  of  the  Tuscan  villa. 

The  house  itself  is  a  piece  of  consciously  architectural  design  (Plate 
186)  contrived  by  an  architect  who  evidently  had  coherent  views  of  com- 
position. In  this  respect  it  marks  a  stage  in  the  cuiquecento  evolution  of  villa 
planning.  Comparison  with  many  of  the  earlier  villas  shews  that  while  they 
embodied  endless  architectural  gems,  their  composition  as  complete  organ- 
isations was  often  less  studied  and  more  fortuitous  than  was  the  case  in  the 
sixteenth  century  and  subsequently. 

The  mass  of  the  house  is  a  compact,  oblong  rectangle — somewhat  low  in 
proportion  to  its  length,  as  compared  v.ith  earlier  usage — broken  on  the 
west  side  by  the  projection  and  slightly  greater  height  of  the  central 
pavilion  (Plate  186).  The  presence  of  such  a  pavilion  and  the  fact  of  there 
being  only  a  ground  floor,  or  pinno  iiohile,  with  an  attic  storey  above  it 
are  evidences  that  new  and  more  academic  influences  were  at  work.  The 
central  doorway  with  its  interrupted  pediment  (Plate  187),  the  double 
flight  of  balustraded  steps,  adorned  with  pebble  and  shell  work,  leading  up 
to  the  entrance,  and  the  late  form  of  the  windows  on  the  western  faqade, 
all  seem  like  a  foreshadowing  of  the  approaching  Baroque  influence.  As 
the  writer  unfortunately  does  not  know  the  detailed  history  of  the  Villa 
del  Arcivescovo,  it  is  impossible  to  state  definitely  whether  or  not  the  three 
features  just  alluded  to  may  have  been  changed  at  a  date  subsequent  to  the 
original  building  of  the  house.  It  would  have  been  quite  in  the  natural 
order  of  things  for  the  episcopal  occupant  of  the  time  being  to  have  added 
these  embellishments  when  the  unmistakably  seventeenth  century  gateways 

297 


298  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

to  the  podere  (Plate  192)  and  the  park  were  constructed.  All  over  Italy 
there  was  a  veritable  passion  for  doing  that  sort  of  thing  during  the  Baroque 
age.  Sad  to  relate,  it  was  not  always  uniformly  well  done.  On  a  point 
like  this,  however,  it  is  unsafe  to  pontificate  without  having  the  actual 
historical  data  at  hand,  for  it  is  quite  possible  to  detect  the  germs  of  Baroque 
characterstics  in  the  Duomo  at  Florence  if  one  knows  where  to  look 
for  them. 

The  appearance  of  the  east  fagade  (Plates  188  and  189)  is  distinctly 
more  in  accord  with  earlier  traditions.  The  window  treatment  and  the 
cills  supported  on  consoles  (Plate  191)  belong  to  the  period  when  the  house 
was  built,  and  the  arcading  of  the  loggia  (Plate  190)  could  not  be  mistaken 
for  other  than  c'uiqueccnto  work.  The  incorporation  of  the  loggia  within  the 
lines  of  the  mass  in  a  thoroughly  constructional  manner  is  an  example  that 
might  profitably  be  taken  to  heart  by  moderns  who  clamour  loudly  for 
verandahs  (Plate  189).  The  twin  towers,  by  their  design  and  details, 
also  proclaim  the  hand  of  a  sixteenth  century  architect. 

These  two  square  towers  (Plates  186  and  189)  of  Renaissance  charac- 
ter with  Classic  motifs  of  low  projection  are  remnants  of  an  older  tradition 
which  the  architect  wisely  retained.  They  give  an  acceptable  touch  of 
dignity  and  additional  interest  to  the  structure  they  adorn  while,  at  the 
same  time,  they  serve  the  highly  utilitarian  purpose  of  dovecotes. 

Absolutely  devoid  of  adventitious  pretense  as  it  is,  the  Villa  del 
Arcivescovo  nevertheless  cannot  fail  to  create  a  deep  impression  and  one 
instinctively  feels  that  a  long  search  might  well  fail  to  reveal  a  composition 
of  like  size  and  character  so  fully  invested  with  the  elements  of  quiet 
elegance  and  gentle  grace. 


299 


CYPRBS5    ROW 

Bcv  HBDoes- 
A»oirr  (I'hi&h 


B1HC<  (JATC 


Plate  185.      PLOT  PLAN — V[LLA   DKL  ARCIVESCOVO.    NEAR  LUCCA 


300 


30I 


Plate  187.      CENTRAL  PAVILION.   WEST  FRONT — VILLA   DEL  ARCIVESCOVO 


302 


303 


304 


305 


•^^ 


3o6 


POGGIO  TORSELLI,  NEAR  SAN  CASCIANO, 
VAL  DI  PESA 

PoGGio  ToRSELLi  has  het-n  well  described  in  the  words  of  a  local  Tuscan 
antiquarian  as  the  "  queen  of  all  the  villas  "  round  about  the  village  of 
Casavecchia,  near  San  Casciano.  Built  in  the  seventeenth  century,  by  a 
branch  of  the  Corsini  family  it  exemplifies  the  less  flamboyant  phase  of 
"  the  Baroque  taste  "  and  its  plan  is  characteristic  of  the  later  form  of 
villa.  That  is  to  say,  there  is  a  main  rectangular  compact  block  without  a 
cortilc,  and  the  central  mass  is  flanked  by  wings,  behind  which,  at  right 
angles  to  the  house  itself,  extend  the  dependencies  (Plate  194). 

The  approach  is  through  a  long,  straight  viale  of  tall  cypresses  (Plate 
195),  which  is  quite  as  hue  in  its  way  as  anything  to  be  seen  at  the  Villa 
D'Este.  This  imposing  avenue  which  can  be  distinguished  for  miles  about  the 
countryside, makes  a  fitting  introduction  to  the  bold,  symmetrical  aspect  of  the 
entrance  front  of  the  house  (Plate  196).  The  grey-brown  of  the  stuccoed 
walls  is  relie\ed  by  tiie  deeper  brown  of  the  pilasters,  the  cornice  and  the 
geometrical  panelling  which  occurs  on  the  fronts  of  the  flanking  wings 
(Plates  197  and  198).  The  door  and  window  trims  are  of  pietra  serena 
and  the  shutters  are  painted  a  light  green  in  the  usual  manner. 

Inside  the  house  one  of  the  features  of  most  notable  interest  is  the  stair- 
case (Plate  199),  which  is  wrought  entirely  in  the  grey  pietra  serena  of  the 
region,  and  is  indicative  of  the  period  when  the  domestic  staircase  was 
becoming  an  object  of  considerable  architectural  elaboration. 

Another  striking  interior  feature  is  the  lofty  salone — within  the  three 
central  bays  of  the  southeast  or  garden  front — whose  height  extends  through 
both  the  ground  and  mezzanine  storeys  (Plates  200  and  201).  Here  the 
ceiling  and  walls  are  embellished  with  stucco  ornament  in  bold  relief,  in  the 
manner  of  the  period,  a  manner  upon  which  special  comment  was  made  in 
the  introductory  chapters. 

Altogether,  the  design  of  the  whole  establishment  and  the  method  of 
its  interior  disposition  faithfully  reflect  the  ample  mode  of  life  pursued  in 
those  brave  days  of  pomp  and  ceremony  when  the  taste  for  "  Spanish 
magnificence  "  had  thoroughly  supplanted  the  old  Tuscan  standards  of 
frugality  and  simple  living.  \V'ithout  concurring  altogether  in  the  lam- 
entations of  the  noble  Senator  \'incenzio  Giraldi,  written  some  years  earlier 
anent  the  follies  and  frailties  of  the  men  and  women  of  his  day,  we  may 
gratefully  turn  to  his  letters  for  a  lively  bit  of  colour  in  helping  us  to 
visualise  the  life  of  the  time,  the  resplendent  appointments  of  the  houses, 
and  the  clothing  of  the  actors  in  this  fascinating  scene.  It  is  pleasant,  too, 
in  connexion  with  Poggio  Torselli,  to  think  of  the  progress  of  Pope 
Pius  VII  and  of  his  stopping  here  to  spend  the  night  while  on  his  way  to 
crown  Napoleon.     The  Holy  Father  came  attended  by  his  cardinals  and 

307 


3o8  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

when  he  departed  on  the  morrow  he  left  his  little  ermine-lined  velvet  cape 
as  a  memento  of  his  visit.  This  memorial  still  hangs  upon  the  wall  of  the 
room  in  which  His  Holiness  slept,  and  the  little  placards  with  the  names 
of  the  cardinals  are  still  attached  to  the  doors  of  the  rooms  they  occupied. 

In  the  north  wing  is  the  family  chapel  (Plate  197),  while,  corre- 
sponding to  it,  the  south  wing  (Plate  198)  gives  access  to  the  stables  and 
coach  house.  Back  of  the  chapel  and  stables,  the  buildings  flanking  the 
garden  accommodate  the  lemon  house  (Plate  204),  accessory  gardening 
provisions,  and  housing  for  the  domestic  servants  and  farm  labourers. 

The  garden,  which  is  symmetrically  planned,  is  enclosed  and  sheltered 
on  three  sides  by  the  main  body  of  the  house  and  by  the  long,  projecting 
dependencies.  It  is  open  to  the  southeast  and  on  this  fourth  side  is  bounded 
by  only  a  low  wall,  on  the  other  side  of  which  the  ground  falls  sharply 
away,  through  olive  orchards  and  vineyards,  to  the  valley  below.  As  the 
plans  shew,  the  dependencies  are  splayed  outward  slightly  so  that  the  gar- 
den is  a  trifle  broader  at  the  low  boundary  wall  than  it  is  directly  in  front 
of  the  house.  This  is  intentional,  and  is  one  of  those  subtleties  of  Baroque 
architecture  that  the  seventeenth  century  architects  made  frequent  use  of. 

About  seventy  years  ago  the  garden  was  partially  remodelled  to  make  it 
coincide  more  nearly  with  the  taste  for  the  giardino  inglese  then  prevalent. 
The  northeast  corner,  however,  was  fortunately  not  very  much  disturbed 
and  this  will  supply  the  clue  for  a  restoration  that  will  probably  take  place. 
The  broad  terrace  (Plate  206),  upon  which  the  saloiie  opens,  is  gravelled. 
The  beds  down  the  middle  of  the  terrace  are  composed  of  collections  of 
potted  plants  and  can  be  removed  at  will. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  entire  composition — the  approach,  the 
house  with  its  subsidiary  buildings,  and  the  gardens — leaves  one  deeply 
impressed  with  a  satisfying  sense  of  completeness. 


309 


3IO 


Plate  195.      APPROACH  THROLGH   CVPRESS  VIAI.E — POGGIO  TORSEI.Ll 


3" 


312 


Plate  197.     LHAPEl.  KNIRANCH,   KAST  WING — POGGIO  TORSELU 


313 


Pl-ATE  198.     COACH   HOUSE  ENTRAN'CK,   WEST  WING — Por,(,IO  TORSEI.I.l 


314 


Plate  199.     STAIRCASE— POGGIO  TORSEU.l 


3 '5 


PlATK   -'Oil.      SAI.ONH — IHII.l.ICI    IllRSHI.I.l 


3i6 


ALOXE — POGCIO  TORSELLI 


317 


3i8 


319 


Pi  ATI.   lUi.      CRll^S   ALI.L^    IN    (.ARDKN— FOCCilo    1  URStl.LI 


3  20 


I'LATE   .'IK.      >\\:\'s    TO    rKRRAlK    AM)   MH    IH    DnilR I'OCCIO   'lORSKI.I.I 


321 


Plate  206.     THE  TERRACi; — POCGI  O  TORSKLU 


LA  PIETRA,  IL  PELLEGRINO,  VIA  BOLOGNESE, 
NEAR  FLORENCE 

La  PiETRA,  on  the  Via  Bolognese,  to  the  north  of  Florence,  has  pre- 
sented to  the  world  since  1600  an  imposing  and  dignified  Baroque  exterior. 
Prior  to  that  date  it  was  a  typical  villa  of  the  early  Renaissance.  For- 
tunately, notwithstanding  the  dominating  Baroque  accretions,  much  of  the 
early  fifteenth  century  work  remains  intact  and  is  perfectly  discernible  after 
a  little  careful  examination,  so  that  the  structure  is,  in  a  way,  an  archi- 
tectural palimpsest. 

The  Sassetti  family  owned  the  villa  in  the  fifteenth  century,  a  fact  at- 
tested by  their  arms  carved  on  many  of  the  corbels  (Plates  224  and  225) 
within  the  house.  Later  it  passed  into  the  possessicjii  of  the  Capponi  family, 
and,  in  ibQO,  Cardinal  Capponi  made  the  changes  alluded  to.  He  it  was 
who  built  the  lodges  (Plate  208)  at  the  gate,  from  which  a  long  riale 
(Plate  209)  of  cypresses  leads  to  the  northwest  (Plates  210-212)  front  of 
the  villa,  the  central  portion  of  which  was  raised  to  accommodate  a  lofty 
ball-room  (Plate  226)  for  his  Eminence  and  also  to  accord  with  the  pre- 
vailing notions  of  symmetrical  composition.  At  the  same  time  the  walled 
parterre  or  flower  garden,  to  the  northeast  of  the  house  (Plates  220  and 
221),  was  constructed  or,  at  least,  enlarged  and  ornamented  in  the  taste 
of  the  period. 

One  interesting  instance  of  the  way  in  which  Cardinal  Capponi's  archi- 
tect merely  overlaid  much  of  the  pre-existing  work  without  obliterating 
it  is  seen  in  the  doorway  of  the  southeast  or  garden  front  (Plates  213  and 
214)  where,  upon  the  quattrocento  lintol  a  Baroque  pediment  has  been  im- 
posed, leaving  the  earlier  setting  quite  undisturbed.  The  ceiling  of  the 
stiloue  (Plate  223)  affords  another  instance  of  the  same  sort  of  skin-deep 
remodelling,  where  bold  plaster  relief  decorations  with  strapwork  scrolls 
and  medallions  were  applied  without  at  all  changing  the  ancient  lunette 
vaulting  of  the  structure. 

The  seventeenth  century  episode  of  embellishment  did  not  at  all  affect 
the  plan  of  the  house,  which  remained  an  hollow  square  built  about  a  central 
cortile,  and  it  was  not  until  a  recent  date  that  the  cortUe  was  roofed  over 
with  a  skylight  and  a  circular  staircase  installed  therein   (Plate  222). 

The  stuccoed  walls  of  the  exterior  are  of  a  brownish-grey  colour,  the 
shutters  are  light  green,  and  the  stone  trims  of  the  doors  and  windows  are 
of  a  brown-toned  pietra  serena. 

The  ancient  garden  lay-out,  upon  descending  levels  of  the  southeast 
slope,  was  unfortunately  swept  away  when  the  passion  for  the  glardino 
uiglese  was  abroad  in  the  land.  Luckily,  however,  enough  traces  of  the 
former  arrangement  remained  so  that  it  was  possible  to  reconstruct  the 
erstwhile  plan  with  considerable  accuracy,  and  according  to  this  plan  the 
gardens  have  been  restored  in  a  successful  and  gratifying  manner 
(Plates  216-219). 

123 


325 


"dn^ 


Plate  207.     PLOT  PLAN  OF  LA  PIEIRA    IL  PELLEGRINO.  NEAR  ILORENCE 


326 


W 


327 


^"^^/"y^'/.T^^ 


328 


Plate  212.     PORTUNK — I,A  PIKTI 


:£:2i 


330 


Plate  21!.     SOUTHHAST  FRONT  FROM   GARDEN — LA  PIHIRA 


331 


I'lvu     :i4.      MH    [HI-.A->I     KR()\  1  ^l.A    I'll'.  I  RA 


332 


333 


334 


^«5  ■'■■:;,«.  -T*      ..^-^       -"',..'  "5   ■.^' 


I'iMi.    :i''.      >1  l-.l^    IN    c.AKhIN — I. A   PIK'IRA 


335 


336 


PlATE   221.      \\l-^r   (.\IF.    WXII.HI)   GARDEN— LA   PIETRA 


337 


l'i*ii    222.     MAIRlAM- — l.AI'IKTRA 


338 


Pi.ATK  22i.     SALONK— LA   F'IKI  RA 


339 


Plaii    JJ-i       |il\l\'.    lillM  —  l,A  PIKTRA 


34° 


341 


Plate  226.      FIREPLACE  IN    BALL  ROOM — LA  PIETRA 


THE  VILLA  PALMIERI  SAN  DOMENICO 
NEAR  FLORENCE 

"  With  a  milde,  majesticke,  and  gentle  pace,  the  Queene  rode  on,  being 
followed  by  the  other  Ladies,  and  the  three  young  Gentlemen,  taking  their 
way  towards  the  West ;  conducted  by  the  niusicall  notes  of  sweete  singing 
Nightingales,  and  infinite  other  pretty  Birds  beside,  riding  in  a  tract  not 
much  frequented,  but  richly  abounding  with  faire  hearbes  and  flowres, 
which  by  reason  of  the  Sunnes  high  mounting,  begannc  to  open  their  bosome 
and  fill  the  fresh  Ayre  with  their  odorifferous  perfumes.  Before  they  had 
travelled  two  small  miles  distance,  all  of  them  pleasantly  conversing  to- 
gether; they  arrived  at  another  goodly  Palace,  which  being  somewhat 
mounted  above  the  plaine,  was  seated  on  the  side  of  a  little  rising  hill. 

AVhen  they  were  entred  thereinto,  and  had  seene  the  great  Hall,  the 
Parlours,  and  beautifuU  Chambers,  every  one  so  stupendiously  furnished, 
withall  convenient  commodities  to  them  belonging,  and  nothing  wanting, 
that  could  be  desired;  they  highly  commended  it,  reputing  the  Lord  thereof 
for  a  most  worthy  man,  that  had  adorned  it  in  such  Princely  manner.  After- 
ward, being  descended  lower,  and  noting  the  most  spacious  and  pleasant 
Court,  the  Sellars  stored  with  the  choysest  Wines,  and  delicate  Springs  of 
waters  everywhere  running,  their  prayses  then  exceeded  more  and  more. 
And  being  weary  with  beholding  such  variety  of  pleasures,  they  sate  downe 
in  a  faire  Gallery,  which  tooke  the  view  of  the  whole  Court,  it  being  round 
engirt  with  trees  and  flowres,  whereof  the  season  then  yeelded  great  plenty. 
And  then  came  the  discreete  I\Laster  of  the  Household,  with  divers  servants 
attending  on  him,  presenting  them  with  Comfits,  and  other  Banquetting,  as 
also  very  singular  Wines,  to  serve  in  stead  of  a  breakefast. 

Having  thus  reposed  themselves  a  while,  a  Garden  gate  was  set  open 
to  them,  coasting  on  one  side  of  the  Pallace,  and  round  enclosed  with  high 
mounted  walles.  Whereinto  when  they  were  entred,  they  found  it  to  be  a  most 
beautifull  Garden,  stored  with  all  varieties  that  possibly  could  be  devised  ; 
and  therefore  they  observed  it  *he  more  respectively.  The  walkes  and  allyes 
were  long  and  spacious,  yet  directly  straite  as  an  arrow,  environed  with 
spreading  vines,  whereon  the  grapes  hung  in  copious  clusters;  which  being 
come  to  their  full  ripenesse,  gave  so  rare  a  smel  throughout  the  Garden, 
with  other  sweete  savours  intermixed  among,  that  they  supposed  to  feele 
the  fresh  spiceries  of  the  East. 

It  would  require  large  length  of  time,  to  describe  all  the  rarities  of  this 
place,  deserving  much  more  to  be  commended,  then  my  best  faculties  will 
affoord  me.  In  the  middest  of  the  Garden,  was  a  square  plot,  after  the 
resemblance  of  a  Meadow,  flourishing  with  high  grasse,  hearbes,  and  plants, 
beside  a  thousand  diversities  of  flowres,  even  as  if  by  the  Art  of  painting 
they  had  beene  there  deputed.  Round  was  it  circled  with  very  verdant 
Orenge  and  Cedar  Trees,  their  branches  plentiously  stored  with  fruit  both 
old  and  new,  as  also  the  flowres  growing  freshly  among  them,  yeelding 
not  onely  a  rare  aspect  to  the  eye,  but  also  a  delicate  savour  to  the  smell. 

In  the  middest  of  this  Meadow,  stood  a  Fountaine  of  white  Marble, 
whereon  was  engraven  most  admirable  workemanhsip.  and  within  it  (I 
know  not  whether  by  a  naturall  veine,  or  artificial!)  flowing  from  a 
figure,  standing  on  a  Collumne  in  the  midst  of  the  fountaine,  such 
aboundance  of  water,  and  so  mounting  up  towards  the  Skies,  that  it  was  a 

345 


344  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

wonder  to  behold.  For  after  the  high  ascent,  it  fell  downe  againe  into  the 
wombe  of  the  Fountaine,  with  such  a  noyse  and  pleasing  murmure,  as  the 
streame  that  glideth  from  a  mill.  When  the  receptacle  of  the  Fountaine 
did  over-flow  the  bounds,  it  streamed  along  the  Meadow,  by  secret  passages 
and  chanels,  very  faire  and  artificially  made,  returning  againe  into  every 
part  of  the  Meadow,  by  the  like  wayes  of  cunning  conveighance,  which 
allowed  it  full  course  into  the  Garden,  running  swiftly  thence  down  towards 
the  plaine ;  but  before  it  came  thether,  the  very  swift  current  of  the  streame, 
did  drixe  two  goodly  Milles,  which  brought  in  great  benefit  to  the  Lord  of 
the  soile. 

The  sight  of  this  Garden,  the  goodly  grafts,  plants,  trees,  hearbes, 
frutages,  and  fiowres,  the  Springs,  Fountaines,  and  pretty  rivolets  stream- 
ing from  it,  so  highly  pleased  the  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  that  among  other 
infinite  commendations,  they  spared  not  to  say:  if  any  Paradise  remayned 
on  the  earth  to  be  seene,  it  could  not  possibly  be  in  any  other  place,  but  onely 
was  contained  within  the  compasse  of  this  Garden." 

Introduction  to  the  Third  Day  of  Boccaccio's  Decameron;  Anonymously 
done  into  English  in  162^. 

Such  was  Boccaccio's  description  of  the  Villa  Palmieri  in  the  summer 
of  1348.  Its  general  tenour  might  serve  equally  well  for  an  account  of 
the  villa  at  the  present  day.  So  far  as  explicit  details  are  concerned,  how- 
ever, and  the  e.xact  relation  of  one  part  of  the  gardens  to  another,  we  should 
be  very  much  at  sea,  for  we  know  that  in  1691,  or  shortly  after  that  date, 
Palmiero  Palmieri  completely  transformed  the  appearance  of  the  place. 

The  oldest  part  of  the  house  there  is  reason  to  believe  was  built  in  1259. 
At  an  early  date  it  was  owned  by  the  Fini.  Later  it  passed  into  the  pos- 
session of  the  Solosmei  who  extended  the  buildings  in  1350.  In  1454  Matteo 
di  Marco  Palmieri  bought  it  and  from  him  it  took  the  name  it  now  bears, 
a  name  that  supplanted  the  older  names  of  Schifanoia  and  Fonte  de'  Tre 
Visi.  Matteo  Palmieri  built  the  loggia  in  1469.  In  1630,  when  a  plague 
was  devastating  Florence,  the  Villa  Palmieri  was  used  as  a  lazaretto  and 
was  not  again  occupied  as  a  residence  until  the  latter  part  of  the  century 
when  Palmiero  Palmieri  returned  to  live  there.  Between  1691  and  1697 
Palmiero  Palmieri  enlarged  the  house  and  gave  it  its  present  form,  making  it 
appear,  when  seen  superficially,  to  be  a  Baroque  work  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  He  it  was  who  built  the  great  south  terrace  (Plate  235),  over- 
looking the  gardens,  and  the  chapel  which  is  a  curious  combination  of 
Renaissance  form  and  Baroque  detail  (Plate  234). 

The  old  road  to  Fiesole  used  to  pass  under  the  south  terrace  and  it  was 
the  custom  of  the  Brethren  of  the  Misericordia,  of  the  two  confraternities 
of  Florence  and  Fiesole,  to  meet  at  this  point  when  executing  their  errands 
of  mercy.  It  was  also  their  ancient  privilege  to  rest  there  and  be  refreshed 
with  a  drink  of  mingled  water  and  vinegar  because  of  the  steepness  of  the 
way.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  the  Earl  of 
Crawford  and  Belcarres  owned  the  villa,  a  new  road  was  opened  and  this 


THE  VILLA  PALMIERI  SAN  DOMENICO     345 

old  road  was  then  closed  so  that  the  Misericordia  Hrethren  now  meet  and 
rest  in  a  little  garden  by  the  gate. 

From  the  time  of  Boccaccio  tlie  Villa  Palmieri  has  always  been  a 
centre  of  literary  associations,  especially  during  the  life  of  Matteo  Palmieri, 
a  friend  of  Cosimo  de'  Medici  the  Elder  and  of  all  the  famous  humanists 
of  the  period,  being  himself  a  scholar  and  author  of  no  mean  reputation  at 
a  time  when  Florence  was  full  of  the  fame  of  Pico  della  Mirandola, 
Marsilio  Ficino,  and  other  gifted  members  of  that  goodly  company  of 
the  Renaissance. 

For  several  years  after  buying  the  villa,  Matteo  Palmieri,  finding  its 
seclusion  and  beauty  conducive  to  his  literary  labours,  devoted  much  of  his 
time  to  the  composition  of  sundry  treatises,  among  them  his  De  Ctiptivitate 
Pisarum  and  the  J'ita  di  Niccolo  Acciaiiioli.  The  most  important,  how- 
ever, was  his  philosophical  poem,  Cittt'i  tli  J'ita  describing  the  author's 
journey  through  the  Elysian  fields,  guided  on  his  way  by  the  Cumnean 
Sibyl.  This  poem  was  read  in  manuscript  and  received  high  praise,  but 
it  was  never  published.  Matteo  sealed  it  up  and  gave  it  to  the  Pro-Consul 
of  the  Guild  of  Notaries,  to  be  opened  after  his  death.  In  1475,  at  his 
funeral,  it  was  laid  on  his  coffin  as  a  token  of  great  honour.  When, 
eventually,  the  contents  of  the  Citta  di  J'ita  became  generally  known,  it 
was  declared  to  be  contaminated  by  the  heretical  opinions  of  Origen  re- 
garding the  probationary  incarnation  of  angels  in  human  bodies,  and  the 
ofKcers  of  the  Inquisition  wished  to  exhume  Palmieri  and  burn  his  body  and 
the  accursed  poem  in  one  fire.  The  Florentine  authorities,  however,  inter- 
vened. Palmieri's  body  was  allowed  to  remain  undisturbed  in  San  Pier 
Maggiore  and,  as  a  compromise,  the  pernicious  manuscript  was  returned 
to  the  care  of  the  Pro-Consul  of  the  Notaries.  Several  pages  were 
damaged  when  the  Arno  flooded  the  city  in  1557.  It  was  then  removed  to 
the  Laurentian  Library  and  locked  up  in  a  cupboard  of  which  not  e\'en  the 
librarian  was  permitted  to  have  the  key  for  many  years  afterward  lest  his 
soul  be  harmed  by  the  false  doctrines.  The  manuscript  is  beautifully 
illuminated  with  the  Signs  of  the  Zodiack  and  various  other  devices  and  is 
now  numbered  amongst  the  special  treasures  of  the  library. 

Sandro  Botticelli,  along  with  other  famous  artists  and  literary  men, 
was  a  frequent  visitor  at  the  Villa  Palmieri.  Vasari  tells  us  that  Botticelli 
was  commissioned  to  paint  an  altar-piece  for  the  Palmieri  chapel  in  San 
Pier  Maggiore  "  with  an  infinite  number  of  figures,  being  the  Assumption 
of  Our  Lady,  with  the  zones  of  the  heavens,  the  Patriarchs,  the  Prophets, 
the  Apostles,  the  Evangelists,  the  Martyrs,  the  Confessors,  the  Doctors, 
the  Virgins  and  the  Hierarchies;  all  after  the  design  given  him  by  Matteo, 
who  was  a  man  of  letters  and  of  learning:  and  he  executed  the  work  after 
a  masterly  fashion  and  with  extreme  diligence.     He  pourtrayed  Matteo  and 


346  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

his  wife  kneeling  at  the  foot  of  the  picture.  But  although  this  work  was 
most  beautiful  and  ought  to  have  been  above  envy,  there  were  some 
malicious  and  evil-speaking  persons  who  being  unable  to  abuse  it  in  other 
ways,  said  Matteo  and  Sandro  had  fallen  into  the  grave  sin  of  heresy ; 
let  none  expect  an  opinion  from  me  as  to  whether  this  be  true  or  not; 
enough  that  the  figures  painted  by  Sandro  are  in  truth  worthy  of  praise 
for  the  great  work  he  had  in  designing  the  circles  of  the  heavens  and  fitting 
foreshortenings  and  landscapes  in  divers  different  ways  between  the  figures 
and  the  angels;  everything  being  exceedingly  well  drawn."  The  Inquisition 
condemned  this  picture  also,  and  wished  to  have  it  destroyed,  but  it  was 
carried  off  to  the  Villa  Palmieri  and  walled  up  until  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  when  it  was  sold,  passing  eventually  into  the  possession 
of  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  and  finally,  in  1882,  becoming  the  property  of 
the  National  Gallery  in  London. 

In  1765  the  EarlCowper  bought  the  Villa  Palmieri  and  made  it  once  more 
the  centre  of  Florentine  literary  life  in  his  day.  In  1824  the  heirs  of  Lord 
Cowper  sold  the  villa  to  Miss  Mary  Farhill  who  willed  the  estate,  at  her 
death,  to  her  friend  Marie  Antoinette,  the  last  Grand  Duchess  of  Tuscany. 
The  Grand  Duchess  sold  the  villa,  in  1873,  to  the  Earl  of  Crawford  and 
Balcarres.  After  his  death,  in  1880,  the  Countess  dowager  continued  to 
live  there  and  on  two  occasions,  in  1888  and  again  in  1893,  entertained 
Queen  Victoria  for  periods  of  a  month  or  more.  The  present  owner  bought 
the  villa  in  1907  and  has  consistently  pursued  extensi\-e  works  of  restoration. 

Notwithstanding  the  generally  Baroque  character  of  the  exterior  im- 
parted by  the  additions  and  alterations  undertaken  by  Palmiero  Palmieri, 
the  plan  of  the  house  is  plainly  of  Renaissance  origin,  being  constructed 
about  three  sides  of  the  cortilc,  while  the  enclosure  of  the  fourth  side  is 
completed  by  the  loggia  (Plates  238  and  239).  The  loggia,  in  turn,  is 
closed  in  from  the  terrace  by  a  curtain  wall  (Plate  236)  and  above  it  are 
chambers  (Plate  238),  an  arrangement  similar  to  that  at  Cigliano.  The 
interior,  also,  is  clearly  indicative  of  Renaissance  origin  with  its  lunette- 
vaulted  ceilings,  the  design  of  its  carved  fireplaces  and  doorways,  and  the 
ancient  painted  decorations  still  preserved  on  the  walls.  The  thirteenth 
century  doorway  (Plates  239  and  240)  in  the  cortile  is  another  insistent 
reminder  of  the  house's  age. 

The  north  doorway,  and  the  graceful  wrought  iron  balcony  above  it 
(Plates  229  and  231),  are  excellent  examples  of  the  restrained  Tuscan 
Baroque  manner.  The  south  doorway,  with  the  polychrome  decorations, 
is  a  (-;V;7Kf(-f;;/o-Baroque  compromise  (Plate  237).  The  actual  stonework 
surrounding  the  doorway  belongs  to  the  sixteenth  century;  the  pilasters  that 
flank  the  doorway  are  painted,  with  a  very  little  assistance  from  stucco  in 
low  relief,  while  the  capitals,  entablature  and  superposed  ornament  are 
altogether  painted  on  a  flat  surface — one  of  the  adroit  feats  of  illusion  in 


THE  VILLA  PALMIERI  SAN  DOMENICO     347 

which  tlie  Baroque  age  excelled,  ^\'hik■  there  are  many  who  will  not 
wholly  approve  this  species  of  emhellishmcnt,  they  can  experience  only 
unqualified  admiration  for  the  splendid  balustraded  terrace,  with  its  double 
ramp  (Plate  2J2)  descending  in  horse-shoe  curves  to  the  parterre  below — 
terrace,  ramp  and  parterre,  all  alike  creations  of  the  same  age  to  which  the 
polychrome  overdoor  decorations  belong. 

Outside  the  parterre  below  the  terrace,  and  not  far  removed  from  it, 
is  the  box  parterre  laid  out  in  the  strictly  geometrical  manner  of  Renais- 
sance usage  (Plates  242-244).  The  coping  of  the  retaining  wall,  and  the 
ornaments  on  top  of  it  (Plate  242)  are  of  terra-cotta,  as  are  also  the  steps 
and  balustrade  at  the  far  side  of  the  parterre  (Plate  243)  where  one  ascends 
to  go  to  the  pergola-bordered  swimming  pool  with  the  pavilion  at  one  side, 
adjoining  the  tennis  lawn  (Plate  241). 

Although  parts  of  the  garden  scheme  are  necessarily  restorations,  after 
the  many  vicissitudes  through  which  the  Villa  Palmieri  has  passed,  and 
other  parts  are  new  creations,  the  whole  has  been  carried  out  in  such  perfect 
sympathy  with  old  Italian  ideals  that  the  result  Is  more  than  satisfying  and 
one  may  well  be  thankful  that  this  historic  spot  has  fallen  into  such  intelli- 
gent and  reverent  ownership. 


349 


Plate  227.      PLOT     PLAN— VILLA  PALMIER!. 

SAN   DOMENICO.   NKAR  FLORENCE 

KEY  TO  PLAN 

1.  Gravelled  Terrace 

2.  Body  of  House 
i.   Pool 

4.  LoEKia 

5.  Cortile 

6.  Great  Terrace 

7.  Parterre 

8.  Box  Parterre 

9.  Tennis  Lawn 
10.  Pool 


3SO 


Hi.ATK  228.     THE  INNER  GATEWAY— VILLA  PALMIERI 


MTIJ-AUI     lu    :w,l;]l|     IKoM     -UII.A    rM.MH-Ki 


352 


Plate  2!0.     NORTH  FRONT— VILLA  PALMILILI 


353 


is^JiTifL'-Tf 


I'l.niH   2il.      }'"K}u\l        VIII    \    I'MAIIKKI 


354 


35 


5.-) 


356 


I'L.ML  2)5.      RAMP  KRUM   PARIKRKE    lo    IHRRACt      \ILL\   I'ALMIKRI 


357 


3S8 


Plate  2!?.     SOUTH    DOOR   AND  CLOCK — VILLA    PALMIHRI 


359 


Pi  ATI    ::^      1  'i|;  IILE  AND  LOGGIO — VILLA  PALMIER  I 


36o 


Plate  2J9.     WEST  END  "i    i 


Ul.l.  \   !■  \I.MU-.R1 


36i 


-'-I".       I  IIIK  I  II  \  I  II    II  \  M   K\    IKM.JK   l.\    CUKIILL — VILLA  PALMIERI 


362 


Plate  241.     THE  POOL — VILLA  PALMIER! 


3  ^^3 


364 


Plate  245.      BOX  I'ARl  tRRE  AND  S1AIR  TO  POOL  ENCLOSURE — VILLA  PALMILRI 


365 


PlAll-:    i44.      B(JX    PARIKRRK   AM)    W  Kl.l,  HhAI) — \I1.I.A   I'AI.MIIRl 


THE  VILLA  CETINALE,  NEAR  SIENA 

The  Villa  Cetinale,  lying  about  eight  and  an  half  miles  to  the  southwest 
of  Siena,  was  designed  by  the  eminent  Baroque  architect  Carlo  Fontana  and 
built  in  i6So  for  Flavio  Chigi,  nephew  to  Pope  Alexander  VII.  The  villa 
is  still  a  possession  of  the  Chigi  family  and  the  estate  is  well  kept  up  so  that 
it  faithfully  exemplifies  the  sevententh  century  manner  of  villa  design  in 
e\'ery  respect. 

The  approach  to  Cetinale  is  something  of  a  surprise  for  you  are  scarcely 
aware  of  its  presence  until  you  suddenly  emerge  from  a  cross  alley  (Plate 
247)  directly  before  the  south  front  of  the  house  (Plate  249).  This  aspect 
is  exceedingly  striking  and  strong  in  dramatic  values.  Between  the  gate 
and  the  house  is  a  parterre  with  box-edged  beds  geometrically  planned ; 
from  the  gate  a  broad  grass  alley,  bounded  by  low  walls  and  a  dense  growth 
of  clipped  ilex  trees  on  each  side  (Plate  246),  extends  a  long  distance 
downhill  toward  the  valley  below.  The  effect  of  this  composition  is  im- 
posing and  thoroughly  satisfying  without  at  all  suggesting  pomposity  or 
the  vainglorious  ostentation  that  its  adverse  critics  so  often  profess  to  find 
in  the  work  of  Baroque  architects  and  garden  designers. 

The  house  and  parterre,  along  with  a  small  tract  of  lawn  on  the  sides 
and  at  the  north,  stand  on  a  little  plateau  barely  large  enough  to  comport 
with  the  dignity  of  the  structure.  The  park  comes  close  up  on  the  east 
side,  while  on  the  west,  beyond  a  low  parapet,  arranged  in  two  tiers  to 
form  a  seat  (Plate  248),  the  ground  drops  to  a  much  lower  level  for  the 
flower  gardens.  The  kitchens  and  cellars,  curiously  enough,  extend  under 
the  narrow  strip  of  lawn  to  the  west  of  the  house,  having  their  opening  into 
the  flower  garden,  and  the  kitchen  chimney  is  whimsically  brought  up  as  a 
projection  above  the  parapet. 

Save  for  two  projecting  pavilions  at  the  corners  of  the  south  front, 
between  which  is  a  triple-arched  loggia  (Plate  249)  on  the  ground  floor, 
the  house  is  a  compact  rectangle  in  plan.  There  are  certain  indications 
that  there  was  originally  a  first  floor  loggia  directly  above  the  ground  floor 
loggia  and  that  the  arches  were  subsequently  walled  in  to  form  a  long 
room  or  gallery.  In  the  treatment  of  this  fagade,  with  pavilions  and  loggias, 
Fontana  seems  to  have  reverted  to  a  somewhat  earlier  tradition  in  his  design. 
Although  florid  in  style,  the  south  front  displays  breadth  and  dignity  in 
its  conception. 

The  more  austere  north  front,  however  (Plates  250  and  251),  with  its 
divided  and  returned  staircase,  is  a  far  finer  piece  of  composition  and  a  better 
measure  of  Fontana's  ability.  It  is  every  whit  as  essentially  Baroque  as  the 
south  facade,  but  it  is  Baroque  of  a  more  serious  tone.  It  is  altogether 
more  convincing  and  has  the  stability  of  purpose  and  the  staying  quality 

367 


368  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

that  one  can  joy  in  living  with.  It  is  solid  meat,  whereas  too  much  of  the 
south  front  would  become  like  confectionery. 

Over  against  the  north  front,  at  a  little  distance,  and  on  axis  with  it, 
is  the  portal  (Plate  252)  that  gives  access  to  the  long  terrace,  at  the  far 
end  of  which  an  alley  is  cut  through  the  trees  straight  up  the  hillside  to  a 
votive  building  at  the  top.  In  its  characteristic  smug  way,  Baedeker's  Guide 
Book  notes  that  "  with  the  villa  is  connected  the  '  Thebais  '  park,  embel- 
lished with  Baroque  sculptures  and  chapels  and  containing  fine  old  timber. 
View  from  the  hill  ('  Romitorio  ')  above  the  villa."  Such  an  annotation 
is  scarcely  enough  to  tempt  one  to  explore  one  of  the  loveliest  villas  in  the 
vicinity  of  Siena.  Indeed,  it  is  rather  discouraging  than  otherwise.  But  if 
the  villa-lover  will  disregard  this  damnation  with  faint  praise,  he  will  be 
richly  rewarded  by  the  delights  of  a  nobly  planned  and  nobly  executed 
garden  scheme.  The  vista  of  the  terrace  through  the  ivy-clad  portal  should 
prove  a  sufficient  earnest  and  guaranty  of  this  promise.  It  is  but  one  of 
the  incidents  to  the  entire  composition. 

Whatever  one  may  think  individually  of  the  works  of  the  Baroque  age, 
it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  masters  of  that  period  understood  the  secret 
of  employing  an  heroic  scale  and  producing  noble  effects  not  only  with 
buildings  but  also  with  comprehensive  garden  planning  as  well.  The 
gardens  of  the  early  Renaissance  were  often  gems  of  tender  and  appealing 
beauty,  but  they  were  intimate  things  planned  on  an  intimate  scale  and 
oftentimes  their  schemes,  though  fascinating  and  richly  suggestive,  were  not 
fully  co-ordinated.  In  the  realm  of  garden  design  the  Baroque  architects 
stand  pre-eminent.  They  thought  in  larger  terms  than  did  their  predeces- 
sors. To  their  genius  and  inspiration  we  owe  nearly  all  of  the  great 
garden  undertakings  executed  in  Italy  and,  secondarily,  all  subsequent 
garden  developments  elsewhere  that  were  inspired  by  Italian  precedent. 
They  knew  how  to  handle  big  projects  successfully ;  they  had  mastered  the 
art  of  using  great  masses  of  foliage  of  divers  sorts  and  of  securing  striking 
effects  by  simple  and  permanent  means ;  they  understood  the  full  inter- 
relation of  art  and  nature,  of  architecture  and  planting;  they  let  nature 
do  the  work  where  it  could  and  then  accented  it  and  brought  it  into  bounds 
with  art ;  in  short,  they  achieved  the  happiest  kind  of  alliance  between  art 
and  nature,  and  that  without  the  pedantic  affectation  of  "  Capability  " 
Brown  and  his  followers.     Let  us  honour  them  for  it. 


369 


MOVN7' 


(O      0 


t)OC 


Plate  245.     PLOT  I'l.AN — CHIINAI.K.  NHAR  SIEN'A 


27° 


Plate  246.     VIALE  OF  ILEXES  AfiD  ENTRAN'CE — VILLA  CEIIS  \l 


37' 


Plate  248.     I  PI'Kk  (;ARDKN   PAKAl'Kl— VII  l 


Pl.AU.  247.      CROSS   ALI.KV   Al    KM  RANCi;— VILLA  CETINAI.li 


372 


Plate  249.      SOUTH    TRONI — VIU.A  ChTINAI.K 


373 


ym^ 


374 


PiATKiSI.      OITSIDE  STAIRCAM  ,     ...Kill    IRONT — Vll.l.i  t  I  W  .  .\I.l 


37- 


Pl.MK   ;^J.      KNTRANCK    lO    TKRRACH — VK.I.A  CHIIVAI.K 


376 


LE  MASCHERE,  IN  THE  MUGELLO 

Le  Maschere  is  one  of  those  rare  creations  of  architecture  and  natural 
setting  that  forcihly  strikes  one  with  admiration  at  first  sight,  and  tlien, 
upon  closer  acquaintance,  the  sense  of  admiration  continues  to  grow  and 
abides.  It  often  happens  that  wiiat  is  impressive  upon  first  acquaintance, 
subsequently  loses  much  of  its  charm  and  glamour.  \ot  so  Le  Maschere. 
The  seventeenth  century  architect  was  singularly  blessed  in  the  site  chosen 
for  the  villa,  and  in  his  performance  he  proved  that  he  thoroughly  under- 
stood the  value  of  the  opportunity  nature  had  given  him  and  that  he  was 
wholly  worthy  of  the  gift. 
The  villa  lies  on  the  flank  of  an  high  hill  and  looks  across  a  broad  valley  to 
the  rugged  peaks  of  the  Apennines  bej'ond.  The  approach  is  by  a  gradual 
ascent  through  a  park  truly  magnificent  in  extent  and  in  the  character  of  the 
timber.  To  live  up  to  such  a  setting,  the  house  is,  as  it  needs  must  be,  of 
imposing  front  and  august  dignity. 

There  is  a  marked  difference  in  treatment  between  the  east  (Plates 
255  and  256)  and  west  (Plate  259)  fronts,  so  much  so,  in  fact,  that  it  is 
hard  for  one  who  sees  only  the  illustrations,  and  has  not  visited  the  place 
itself,  to  realise  that  the  two  facades  belong  to  the  same  structure.  And  yet 
the  composition  has  been  so  managed  that  this  diversity  of  aspect  is  not  in  the 
least  inconsistent.  Indeed,  the  lie  of  the  land,  which  is  considerably  higher 
on  the  west  front,  invited  a  different  scheme.  Although  the  two  buildings 
are  utterly  unlike  in  style,  one  is  reminded  of  Maser,  in  the  Trevigiano,  by 
the  similar  method  of  adapting  a  long  structure  to  a  steep  hillside  site. 

The  long,  low  west  front,  which  opens  on  a  parterre  with  geometrically 
designed  and  box-edged  beds  and  a  circular  pool,  is  somewhat  more  academic 
than  the  east  front.  The  doorway  and  the  ground  floor  windows  (Plate 
260)  flanking  it  possess  a  bold  and  dominating  dignity  that  stamps  the 
fagade  with  a  thoroughly  distinctive  character.  The  patterning  of  the 
whole  wall  surface  with  large  sgrafitto  panels  is  quite  in  accord  with  the 
practice  of  the  period.  The  ground  colour  of  the  stucco  is  an  ochre  brown, 
while  the  broad  bands  defining  the  panels  are  in  brown  of  a  much  deeper 
tone.  This  is  an  exceptionally  good  example  of  this  sort  of  wall  decora- 
tion. The  chapel  (Plate  257)  is  at  the  southwest  corner  of  the  west  front 
and  the  chapel  door  opens  to  the  south.  The  metopes  of  the  frieze  above 
the  central  portion  of  the  west  front  (Plate  258)  are  filled  with  different 
representations  of  the  traditional  Italian  masques,  whence  the  name  of 
the  villa. 


377 


379 


Plate  255.      ENTRANCE.    EAST  FRONT — LE  MASCHERE 


38o 


Plate  256,     EAST  FRONT — LE  MASCHERE 


381 


382 


383 


Plute  2<iO.     VVKST  FRON  1 — I.K  MASC'HKRH 


THE  VILLA  GARZONI  AT  COLLODI, 
NEAR  PESCIA 

Now  CoUodi  Is  near  Peacia,  and  Pescia  is  not  far  distant  from  Lucca. 
So  much  for  geograpliical  accuracy.  The  \'illa  Garzoni — both  pdlazzo  and 
gardens — is,  as  we  see  it  to-day,  a  creation  of  the  mid-seventeenth  century. 
However,  the  villa  is  really  much  older  than  that.  In  the  Middle  Ages 
Collodi  belonged  to  the  See  of  Lucca,  and  where  the  Baroque  palazzo  now 
stands,  then  stood  a  strongly  fortified  castle  with  the  little  town  nestling 
within  the  castle  walls,  farther  up  the  hill  behind  it.  This  fact  explains 
a  peculiarity  in  the  plan  of  the  villa,  as  we  shall  see  by-and-by.  To  the  castle 
of  Collodi  the  Florentines  laid  siege  in  1430  but  so  valiantly  did  the  little 
town  hold  out  against  its  besiegers  that  their  efforts  were  barren  of  result. 
Seven  years  later  the  Florentines  were  more  successful  in  their  attempts  to 
gain  the  mastery  of  Collodi,  hut  in  1442,  by  the  provisions  of  a  treaty,  it 
was  restored  to  Lucca. 

In  the  middle  of  the  seventeentli  century,  the  Garzoni  family,  who  were 
the  lords  of  all  this  region,  replaced  the  medieval  castle  by  the  present 
structure  (Plate  262)  for  a  country  seat,  and  the  gardens  were  then  laid  out 
on  the  adjacent  slopes  in  full  view  of  its  windows.  Standing,  as  it  does,  to 
one  side  of  the  gardens  and  above  them,  and  in  a  place  difficult  of  access,  it 
spans  as  did  its  predecessor  the  one  road  of  approach  to  the  town  which 
still  lies  on  the  hill  behind  it.  To  reach  the  town,  therefore,  it  is  necessary 
to  climb  the  road  through  the  groves,  ascend  the  fourfold  ramp  (Plate  263), 
enter  the  high-arched  portal  of  the  palace  itself,  pass  through  the  arcaded 
cortile  at  the  rear,  and  then  continue  up  a  steep,  stone-paved  street,  or 
rather  lane  (Plate  265),  to  the  humbler  dwellings  of  the  townsfolk.  It 
seems  an  anomalous  arrangement  to  have  the  highway  traversing  the  gar- 
den and  passing  right  through  the  palace,  but  the  road  has  been  so  success- 
fully screened  for  the  most  part  and  the  whole  scheme  so  well  contrived  that 
one  is  hardly  aware  of  what  has  been  done. 

The  palazzo  is  an  oblong  rectangle,  relying  for  its  imposing  effect  upon  its 
commanding  position,  the  apportionment  of  its  masses,  the  shapely  belvedere 
by  which  it  is  crowned,  and  the  heroic-sized  figures  surmounting  the  roof, 
rather  than  upon  florid  ornament.  Its  composition  is  exceedingly  simple 
and  exemplifies  the  restraint  of  which  the  Baroque  architects  were  capable, 
when  it  suited  their  purpose,  as  it  did  in  this  instance  where  the  structure 
could  be  viewed  satisfactorily  only  from  a  distance.  Elaborate  detail  would 
have  been  quite  lost.  It  is  far  otherwise  with  the  pavilion  (Plate  265)  back 
of  the  palazzo.  This  building,  primarily  intended  to  screen  the  town,  can 
be  seen  only  at  close  range  and  exhibits  all  the  familiar  forms  of  embellish- 
25  38s 


386  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

ment  beloved  of  the  seventeenth  century  Itahan  architects.  In  its  own  way, 
it  is  a  skillful  and  agreeable  bit  of  architectural  pleasantry  and  admirably 
suits  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  intended. 

Amongst  the  great  achievements  of  Italian  garden  making,  the  gardens 
of  the  Villa  Garzoni  occupy  a  position  that  challenges  the  attention  of 
anyone  to  whom  the  art  of  garden  design  makes  an  appeal.  Few  gardens 
can  be  reckoned  superior  to  them,  even  those  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome 
with  all  their  marvellous  endowment  of  natural  conditions  and  all  the 
magnificence  of  art  that  has  been  lavished  upon  them.  In  all  of  Tuscany 
there  is  nothing  finer  of  the  sort  to  be  found,  nor  can  their  particular  kind 
of  charm  be  surpassed  in  the  north  of  Italy.  Furthermore,  they  enjoy  the 
distinction  of  being  numbered  with  the  comparatively  few  gardens  that 
have  come  down  to  us  in  virtually  that  state  which  was  intended  by  the 
original  designers.  What  is  scarcely  less  important,  they  have  been  main- 
tained in  good  order  so  that  the  full  measure  of  their  beauty  appears,  un- 
dimmed  by  neglect  or  the  ravages  of  time. 

The  gardens  lie  in  the  concave  curve  of  a  steep  hillside  with  a  southern 
and  southwestern  exposure.  At  the  foot  of  the  hill  is  the  principal  entrance 
and  for  a  short  distance  within  the  gate  the  ground  is  level  or  only  gently 
sloping.  Then  a  rapid  sweep  upward  displays  a  panorama  of  all  the  area 
comprised  within  the  garden  bounds.  Near  the  top  of  the  hill  to  the  left 
is  the  Palazzo,  reached  by  a  long  ascent.  Directly  in  front,  beyond  the 
divisions  of  the  parterre  which  cover  the  intermediate  rise,  the  eye  follows 
a  succession  of  balustraded  steps  and  terraces  (Plate  266)  leading  up  to  a 
long  vista  of  the  cascade  that  descends  from  the  wooded  crest  of  the  hill 
between  thick  groves  of  trimmed  ilex  trees.  It  would  be  hard  to  imagine 
anything  of  the  sort  exceeding  in  dramatic  force  this  skillfully  planned 
composition  which,  at  one  comprehensive  glance,  discloses  the  vast  promise 
of  untold  delights  to  be  leisurely  explored  in  detail  as  the  visitor  advances. 
The  lower  part  of  the  garden,  sloping  gradually  upward  and  devoted 
to  the  parterre,  is  divided  in  the  middle  by  a  broad  ramped  path,  bordered 
by  close-clipped  box  hedges.  The  middle  portion  of  this  sloping  avenue, 
gravelled  like  the  footpaths  at  each  side,  is  embellished  with  bold  arabesque 
patterns  wrought  in  vari-coloured  stones  and  outlined  with  low  box.  The 
intricate  patterns  in  the  parterre  (Plate  269)  are  executed  in  the  same 
manner,  that  is  to  say,  the  sundry  devices  are  carried  out  in  vari-hued 
marbles  and  stones,  set  according  to  a  carefully  considered  colour  scheme, 
and  these  beds  of  stonework,  resembling  raised  embroidery  when  viewed 
from  a  distance  (Plate  264),  are  sharply  defined  by  a  narrow  edging  of  low 
box  plants. 

The  seventeenth  century  parterre  de  broderie  was  often  a  garden  abso- 


THE  VILLA  GARZONI  AT  COLLODI         387 

lutely  without  flowers  or  grass.  On  a  groundwork  ot  gravel,  scrolls  and 
other  fanciful  designs,  spread  forth  in  sand,  gravel  or  stones  of  divers  pro- 
nounced and  contrasting  colours,  might  or  might  not  be  outlined  with  low- 
clipped  boxwood.  The  primary  considerations  in  these  parterres  de 
broderie  were  boldness  of  pattern  and  boldness  of  colour.  They  were  meant 
to  be  viewed  from  a  distance  and  their  whole  effect  was  intended  to  be 
taken  in  at  a  glance. 

Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  taste  that  prompted  the  employment  of 
such  devices,  they  formed  a  well-recognised  element  in  the  seventeenth 
century  system  of  garden  making  and  were  often  used  with  telling  effect. 
At  times  the  designers  displayed  an  extraordinary  ingenuity  of  treatment 
and  compassed  a  baffling  complexity  of  scrolls  and  mazes  rivalling  the  parts 
of  an  ornate  Cosmatic  pavement ;  then,  again,  they  were  content  with  an 
array  of  more  obvious  geometrical  forms. 

To  have  a  parterre  of  the  sort  just  described  was  evidently  the  inten- 
tion of  those  who  planned  the  gardens  of  the  Villa  Garzoni,  and  doubtless 
the  scheme  was  carried  out  in  the  approved  manner  of  the  day,  but  in  the 
lapse  of  years  flowers  have  gradually  encroached  upon  the  realm  once  devoted 
to  sand,  gravel  and  stone,  with  box  outlinings,  and  the  result  is  so  pleasing 
— though  not  orthodox,  according  to  archjEological  standards — that  one 
would  not  willingly  see  them  banished. 

Whatever  regrets  the  garden  archaeologist  may  entertain  over  the 
presence  of  flowers  in  the  parterre  de  broderie,  unreserved  enthusiasm  can 
be  bestowed  upon  the  treatment  of  the  clipped  boxwood.  Conical  forms 
cut  into  diminishing  convex  spirals,  cylindrical  drums,  globes  and  other 
topiary  conceits  have  been  admirably  executed  and  disposed  in  an  extremely 
effective  manner  that  conveys  a  gratifying  sense  of  firm  definition  and 
stability  of  design.  In  regarding  the  clipped  boxwood  ranged  along  the 
central  avenue  from  the  gate  to  the  base  of  the  terraces,  set  along  the  high 
surrounding  hedges,  and  placed  at  various  other  points  in  the  composition 
of  the  parterre,  one  should  recognise  the  scope  thus  given  for  an  engaging 
play  of  light  and  shade  which  the  undipped  bushes  do  not  afford.  The  high 
bounding  hedges  themselves  (Plates  262,  264.  and  269),  composed  of  clip- 
ped cypress,  laurel,  yew  and  box  commingled,  and  enclosing  pleached  alleys, 
present  another  and  no  less  striking  example  of  old  Italian  topiary  methods 
whose  masters  fully  understood  the  great  value  of  bold,  emphatic  archi- 
tectural forms  cut  from  dense  masses  of  ordered  greenery. 

The  crowning  triumph  of  water  gardening  at  the  Villa  Garzoni  is  the 
cascade  (Plate  267)  which  descends  from  the  top  of  the  hill  and  terminates 
at  the  third  or  upper  terrace,  the  water  being  thence  conveyed  by  under- 
ground channels  to  supply  a  succession  of  fountains  and  pools  at  lower 
levels.     At  the  head  of  the  cascade,  set  on  an  half-circle  of  lofty  cypresses, 


388  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

a  more  than  heroic-sized  figure  of  Fame  blows  through  her  trumpet  a  great 
jet  of  water  which  splashes  into  a  pool  before  the  goddess's  pedestal,  thence 
to  be  conveyed  over  a  triple  descent  of  steps  and  pools  enlivened  by  a  series 
of  fantastic  little  spurts  and  gushes.  Reclining  female  figures,  emblematic 
of  Florence  and  Lucca  (Plate  267),  preside  over  the  upper  bason,  while 
large  grotesque  birds,  perched  on  the  rocks  about  the  lowest  pool,  pour 
streams  of  water  from  their  bills. 

On  the  hill  behind  Fame,  concealed  from  view  by  a  grove  of  cypress 
trees,  is  a  bath-house  appointed  with  bathrooms,  marble  baths,  dressing- 
rooms,  and  two  salons  where  the  bathers  might  dally  after  their  plunge  and 
regale  themsehes  with  dainty  cates  fetched  thither  from  the  palace.  There 
are  elaborate  decorations  in  white,  blue  and  gold,  with  frescoes  in  which 
arnorini  disport  themselves  amidst  ribbons,  garlands  and  clouds.  The  ex- 
quisite furnishings  with  faded  silks  and  brocades  are  still  in  place.  High 
up,  overlooking  the  salons,  baths  and  dressing-rooms,  is  a  minstrels'  gallery 
whence  musicians  were  wont  to  discourse  sweet  strains  for  the  delectation 
of  those  who  performed  their  ablutions  in  this  sumptuous  setting.  This 
bath-house  and  its  appointments  form  an  illuminating  commentary  upon 
the  luxurious  manner  of  life  in  a  great  seventeenth  century  Italian  villa. 

Between  the  cascade  and  the  palazzo,  approached  by  the  upper  terrace, 
is  an  open-air  theatre.  The  turfed  stage,  completely  shaded  by  overarching 
trees,  is  raised  several  feet  above  the  walk  and  bounded  by  a  low  hedge  of 
clipped  box,  within  which  is  the  prompter's  seat.  Closely  clipped  box-trees 
likewise  form  the  wings  and  background,  while  several  statues  at  the  sides 
and  a  niched  fountain  at  the  rear  complete  the  setting. 

Nearby  the  palace  is  a  labyrinth  whose  windings — unlike  those  more 
usually  met  with — are  separated  by  trellises  which  support  a  body  of  foliage 
not  too  dense  to  hide  from  each  other  those  wandering  in  the  maze  of  paths. 
The  goal  is  a  grotto,  at  one  end,  equipped  with  a  fountain  and  water  sur- 
prises. There  are  also  other  water  surprises  to  be  encountered  in  the  paths, 
in  the  shape  of  deftly  concealed  jets  which  unexpectedly  spurt  tiny  sprays 
from  the  ground  and  other  quarters  equally  unthought  of,  so  that  retreat  is 
cut  off  and  the  unwary  person  caught  in  this  trap  rarely  escapes  without  a 
sound  drenching.  The  contrivance  of  these  practical  jokes  was  a  very 
favourite  device  with  seventeenth  century  garden  designers,  not  only  in 
Italy  but  elsewhere  as  well.  E\elyn,  in  his  Diary,  mentions  a  number  of 
them  in  the  account  of  his  travels  on  the  Continent,  and  likewise  describes 
many  other  ways  in  which  the  ingenious  engineers  managed  to  enhance  the 
interest  which  running  water  was  made  to  supply  in  garden  schemes. 

A  word  must  be  said  about  the  extensive  use  of  hard  stucco  statuary  at 
the  villa  Garzoni  and  in  other  gardens  of  similar  character.  There  are  those 
who,  nurtured  upon  Ruskinian  principles  and  prejudices,  deplore  the  em- 


THE  VILLA  GARZONI  AT  COLLODI  389 

ployment  of  such  embellishments  as  unworthy  and  contrary  to  the  ideals 
which  should  inspire  those  whose  function  it  is  to  display  the  elegancies  of 
nature.  To  this  objection  the  answer  may  be  made  that  the  seventeenth 
century  garden  designers  were  wiser  in  their  generation  than  are  their  critics. 
The  object  before  them  was  to  produce  an  effect  of  emphasis  and  contrast 
when  the  composition  was  viewed  as  an  whole,  or  in  sections  as  large  as 
the  lie  of  the  land  permitted.  The  individual  pieces  of  stucco  statuary 
were  not  regarded  primarily  as  finished  products  of  the  sculptor's  art.  That 
aspect  was  altogether  subsidiary.  They  were,  first  and  foremost,  con- 
tributory items  to  a  comprehensive  setting,  elements  necessary  to  the  whole 
ensemble,  and  their  character,  jocular  or  serious  as  the  case  might  be,  was 
but  a  justifiable  bit  of  allusive  by-play  in  the  composition.  Impartially 
viewed,  as  these  gardens  were  intended  by  their  designers  to  be  viewed,  the 
results  achieved  fully  vindicate  the  means  employed. 


391 


M     I      &     M  ROAD 


Plate  261.     PLOT  PLAN— VILLA  GARZONL  AT  COLLODl.   NEAR  PtSCLA 


392 


393 


I'LAU.    :<,>.       KAMI'     lo    .-.ilL    III    IKiiM        Wl.l.A   l.AKZOM 


Platb  264.     PORTION   Ol-    PARTERRE  AM)   HEUGES — VII.l.A  (iARZOM 


394 


Pl  ATE  265.      PAVILION  BACK  OP"  1  HE  PALAZZO — VILLA  CARZOXl 


395 


396 


.tAlJl..    i.uukixc;    L  1"   1  KOM    LITER    TKRRACK — VILLA  (^ARZOM 


397 


398 


Plate  J69.     THK   yjRTFKRH.    Ut.    URi'DhRlh — \ILI„\   i;AK7.(l\l 


THE  VILLA  CORSI-SALVIATI   (GUICCIAR- 
DINl),  AT  SKSTO,  NEAR  FLORENCE 

You  might  pass  to  and  fro  a  thousand  times  through  tlie  narrow,  dusty 
little  street  of  Sesto  without  ever  dreaming  of  what  certain  walls  along 
the  south  side  of  that  busy  thoroughfare  conceal  unless,  by  a  fortunate 
chance,  several  doors  at  one  particular  spot  happened  to  be  open  simul- 
taneously, revealing  the  merest  glimpse  of  the  loveliness  within.  Seen  from 
the  street,  the  Villa  Corsi-Salviati  presents  a  bleak,  uninteresting  grey 
stucco  wall,  pierced  at  intervals  by  windows  that  utterly  fail  to  intrigue  the 
imagination.  For  aught  of  promise  conveyed  by  its  northern  or  road  aspect, 
it  might  as  well  be  a  tenement  or  a  factory. 

But  enter  a  door,  pass  through  a  court  and  out  through  another  door- 
\vay,  and  the  sudden  change  is  astounding.  It  is  like  being  transported  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye  from  purgatory  into  paradise.  You  find  yourself 
most  unexpectedly  in  the  midst  of  a  garden  (Plate  272)  which,  as  Guido 
Carocci  truly  says,  "is  amongst  the  most  beautiful  and  delightful  of  those 
created  in  that  seventeenth  century,  in  which  everything  had  to  be  in 
keeping  with  the  pomp  of  lite,  and  with  the  magnificence  of  costumes  and 
manners."  "  This  garden,"  he  continues,  "  lies  to  the  south  of  the  buildings, 
occupying  a  long  tract  of  level  ground,  embellished  with  ponds  and  pools, 
with  fountains  and  ingeniously  contrived  jets  of  water,  with  shady  groves  en- 
riched with  statues,  vases,  grottoes  and  rustic  adornments,  with  thickets  and 
with  borders  wherein  grow  luxuriantly  the  most  beautiful  flowers  and  where 
the  rarest  plants  are  nurtured."  This  sounds  almost  like  one  of  the  fanciful 
descriptions  of  the  fabled  gardens  of  Classic  antiquity  penned  by  the  Italian 
romancers  of  the  Renaissance;  in  very  truth  it  is  but  a  partial  and  altogether 
veracious  account  to  which  much  more,  indeed,  might  have  been  added 
without  risk  of  exaggeration. 

From  a  remote  period,  "  to  which  the  memory  of  man  runneth  not  back," 
the  Carnesecchi  family  owned  a  manor  house  and  land  on  this  spot.  In 
January,  1502,  Luca  di  Andrea  Carnesecchi  sold  the  manor  house,  with 
walled  garden,  dovecotes  and  sundry  other  appurtenances  to  Simone  di 
Jacopo  Corsi.  The  rebuilding  and  embellishment  of  the  villa  were  under- 
taken by  the  Corsi  family  in  the  following  century  "  with  all  that  pomp 
and  magnificence  which  the  taste  and  tlie  elegance  of  the  period  demanded 
and  which  the  wealth  of  that  illustrious  family  made  possible."  The  most 
celebrated  artists,  Carocci  assures  us,  "  were  employed  upon  the  new 
buildings,  and  upon  the  decorations  in  stucco  and  frescoes."  Amongst 
others  of  those  so  engaged  "  should  be  recorded  the  names  of  two  pleasing 
and  brilliant  painters:  Federigo  Zuccheri  and  B/iciio  Del  Bianco."  The 
work  of  rehabilitation  was  begun  in  1632  and  finished  in  1660.  The  result 
was  a  stately  dwelling  with  subsidiary  buildings  and  gardens  all  thoroughly 

399 


400  VILLAS  OF  TUSCANY 

representative  of  the  seventeenth  century  Baroque  manner  at  its  best.  It 
is  fortunate  that  buildings  and  gardens  have  been  maintained  in  the  form 
they  were  then  given.  Those  who  ignorantly  rail  at  Baroque  as  a  debased 
and  vicious  style  would  do  well  to  study  the  Villa  Corsi-Salviati  carefully 
before  giving  full  rein  to  their  prejudice. 

Inside,  the  house  shews  many  traces  of  its  early  origin,  but  outside  the 
design  has  been  made  to  conform  consistently  in  every  particular  to  the 
architectural  mode  in  vogue  at  the  period  of  its  enlargement.  The  plan,  of 
course,  has  been  made  to  coincide  with  the  environment.  There  was  nothing 
to  be  gained  by  considering  the  road  front  on  the  north  so  the  architecture 
on  that  side  was  left  ungraced  by  any  amenity  and  all  the  buildings  were 
placed  squarely  on  the  line  of  the  street  so  that  all  the  ground  might  be  saved 
for  the  south  side  where  it  would  count  most.  It  might  truly  be  said  that 
the  buildings  of  the  villa  are  buildings  with  only  one  side.  All  the  archi- 
tectural graces  were  lavished  on  the  garden  side  of  both  the  dwelling  and 
the  various  dependencies. 

Directly  adjoining  the  south  front  of  the  dwelling  is  the  parterre  (Plate 
271),  geometrically  laid  out  with  gravelled  walks  and  box-edged  beds, 
such  adjuncts  as  fountains,  statuary  (Plates  274  and  275),  and  the  usual 
lemon  trees  in  great  earthen  pots,  which  always  serve  to  give  accent  and 
definition,  being  freely  employed  but  disposed  with  excellent  judgement.  To 
the  west  of  the  parterre  is  the  long  pool  or  vasca  (Plates  276  and  277),  one 
end  coming  near  to  the  loggia  at  the  west  end  of  the  house.  Again,  west 
of  the  pool,  are  flower  gardens  and  other  delights,  the  architectural  setting 
of  every  item  being  duly  considered  (Plates  278  and  279).  To  the  south  of 
the  parterre  is  the  park.  The  joy  of  extensive  outlook  being  denied  by  the 
flatness  of  the  ground,  a  compensation  for  this  lack  is  provided  by  the 
belvederi  (Plates  273  and  274)  on  the  top  of  the  house. 


40I 


H         I       G      H       W      A    Y 


TV^I> 


I 


~^HV^"^ 


o      u      1     V       t 


O   O    Q    O  O  O   O 

o  a  o  o  o  o 
o  o  c^  o 


Plate  270.     PLOT  PLAN— VILLA  CORSI-SALVIATL  SRSTO 


40:; 


4<^3 


404 


40S 


4o6 


407 


Plate  27S.     WALK   AM)  GArKWAV  I\   CARDKN — Vll.LA  CURSI-.-,AI.VI A  I  I 


.A. 


Pi  VTE  279.     WEST  POOL  AM)    DKPKNDENXIF.S — VILLA  CORSl-SALVLMT 


INDEX 


Acquaio,  33 

Alberti,  Leon  Battista,  77 

Albizzi,  Giovanna  degli,  61 

Allori,  Alessandro,  223 

Ammanati,  Bartolommeo,  44,  223 

Andrea  del  Sarto,  64,  223 

Antinori,  Alessandro  di  Niccolo,  81;  family, 

81,  82;  Alarchese  Lodovico,  81;  Niccolo 

Francesco,  81;  Palazzo,  81. 
Arabesques,  44 
Arcetri,  26 
Architects,  professional,  41;  employment  of, 

40,41 
Arcivescovo,  Villa  del,  42,  297-298 
Arrangement,  symmetrical,  48 

B 

Baccio  del  Bianca,  399 

Baroque,  design,  367;  influence,  297;  move- 
ment, 45;  panelling,  81;  properties  of,  46; 
style,  45,  400;  taste.  Si,  307;  Tuscan, 
45.46 

Beams,  33 

Belcaro,  42,  269-271 

Berain,  50 

Bianca  Cappella,  223,  224,  225 

Boccaccio,  56,  70,  345 

Bonaccorsi,  family,  113,  121.  155 

Bondi,  family,  81 

Botticelli,  Sandro,  61,  64,  345,  346 

Box  Gardens,  77 

Bricks,  43,  50;  kinds  of,  63 

Bronzino,  253 

Brown,  "Capability,"  67,  368 

Brunelleschi,  41 


Cafaggiuolo,  40,  41,  21 1-214 

Cancellieri,  family,  223 

Cantina,  27 

Capitals,  34 

Capponi,  Cardinal,  323;  family,  155;  villa, 

155,  156 
Careggi,  40,  44,  61,  212 
Carnesecchi,  family,  399 
Carocci,  Guido,  99,  399 
Cartouches,  49 
Carving,  30,  43 


Casroni,  63;  intarsiati,  64;  painted,  64 

Cato,  73 

Cavalcanti,  family,  100 

Ceilings,  33,  49,  55,  122;  beamed  and 
painted,  43,  50;  decoration  of.  65,  66, 
178,  179;  polychrome  decorations,  56, 
59;  lunette-vaulted,  43,  50;  structure  of, 
61,  62;  wooden,  61. 

Cellini,  Benvenuto,  43 

Celsa,  Villa,  25,  195-196 

Cement,  43 

Cetinale,  45,  367-368 

Chairs,  64 

Chandeliers,  66 

Chigi,  285;  Agostino,  40;  family,  367; 
Flavio,  367 

Cigliano,  26,  37,  81-82 

Cinelli,  family,  81 

Classic  antiquity,  38;  influence,  36 

Coffers,  33 

Collazzi,  Villa  dei,  37,  38,  253-254 

Collodi,  45,  79,  385 

Colonna,  Francesco,  77 

Columella,  73 

Corbels,  33,  34 

Corsi,  family,  399;  Jacopo,  399 

Corsi-Salviati,  Villa,  45,  399-400 

Corsini,  family,  307;  Principe,  237 

Cortile,  24,  25,  42;  pivotal  feature,  42; 
place  of,  42;  plan  of,  46 

Courtyard,  24 

Cowper,  Earl,  346 

Crawford  and  Balcarres,  Earl  of,  344,  346 

Credenze,  63 

Crescenzi,  Pietro,  73,  77 

D 

Dados,  60 

Dante,  56 

Decameron,  179-180,  343-344 

Decoration,    mural,    33,   44;    painted.    33: 

quality  of,  43 
della  Robbia,  223;  Giovanni,  81 
Dependencies,  27,  36,  47 
Design,  character  of,  43 
Diapered  repeats,  44 
Dini,  Agostino,  253 
Donatello,  214 
Doors,  66 
Doorways,  30,  43,  47,  48,  62 

409 


4IO 


INDEX 


Eaves,  overhanging,  41 
Eleonora  of  Toledo,  205,  224 
Etruscans,  23,  24 
Evelyn,  Diary,  388 
P^yre,  Charles,  Esq.,  121 


Farmhouse,  fortified,  24 

Farhill,  Miss  Mary,  346 

Farnesiua,  Villa.  40 

Fattoria,  25 

Ficino,  Marsilio,  213,  34; 

Fiesole,  25,  40,  74,  344 

Fini,  family,  344 

Fireplaces,  30,  43,  48,  62 

Floors,  43,  50,  62,  63;  parquetry,  50 

Florence,  7,  10,  26,  40 

Fontana,  Carlo,  367 

Formality,  growth  of,  36 

Fra  Angelico,  214 

Franclabigio,  223 

FrulUno,  II,  26,  37.  143-144 

Furniture,  character  of,  64,  65;  decoration 
of,  63;  kinds,  63;  materials,  63;  uphol- 
stery, 66 


Galileo,  99-101 

Galletti,  Count  Paolo,  99 

Galli,  family,  99 

Gardens,  arrangement,  73,  78,  79,  82,  156, 
'I77>  i95>  3S6>  387>  399-  4°°i  conception 
of,  69;  design,  179,  180;  function  of,  67; 
ideal  of,  68,  69;  monastic  establishments, 
69;  present  condition,  67;  relation  to 
house,  69;  secular,  69;  sources  of  infor- 
mation, 68 

Garzoni,  Villa,  45,  385-3S9 

Gelosie,  29,  46 

Giardino  inglese.  67,  68.  323 

Giojcllo,  II,  99-101 

Giotto,  214 

Giovanni  da  Udine,  39 

Giulio  Romano,  39 

Granaio,  27 

Guicciardini,  399 

Guidetti.    family,  81 

H 

Hamilton,  Duke  of,  346 
Hypnerotomachia  Poliphili,  77 


I 

Intarsia  work,  64 
Interlacing  patterns,  6o 
Italian  Renaissance,  7 


La  Pietra,  Villa,  3^,  45,  32 
Lavabo,  33 

Leather,  stamped,  62 
Le  Corti,  Villa,  37,  38,  237-238 
Le  Maschere,  Villa,  45,  378 
Lemmi,  Villa,  61 
Lippi,  Filippino.  223 
Loggia,  24,  25,  34 

Lucca,  10,  42,  385,  388;  archbishopric  of, 
297 

M 

Madama,  Villa,  39;  influence  of,  4c 

Maiolica,  polychrome,  34;  roundels,  81 

Margaret  of  Austria,  214 

Maser,  378 

Masi,  family,  100 

Materials,   41 

Medallions,  34 

Medici,  Alessandro  de',  214,  224;  Calerina, 
de',  214;  Cosimo,  the  Elder,  205,  211, 
214,  345;  Cosimo  I,  de',  25,  36,  81,  205, 
269;  Cosimo  III,  de',  81,  225;  Ferdi- 
nando,  225;  Giovanni  delle  Bande  Nere, 
205;  Giuliano  de',  212;  Giulio  de',  39, 
40;  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  212,  223; 
Lorenzino  de',  214;  Piero  de',  214 

Michelangelo,  37,  43,  253,  254 

Michelozzi,  40,  205,  211 

Milton,  John,  100 

Mino  da  Fiesole.  34 

Mirrors,  66 

Misericordia,  344,  345 

Monte  Mario,  39 

Monte  Ripaldi,  99,  113 

Mugello,  25 

O 

Ombrellino,  Villa,  113 
Orchards,  73 
Orsini,  Clarice,  213 

P 
Palazzo,  24 
Palmieri,    Matteo    di    Marco,    344,    346; 

Palmiero,  346;  Villa,  26,  45,  343-347 
Panca,  82 


INDEX 


411 


Parterre  de  broderie.  386,  387 

Pastiglia  decoration,  63 

Pazzi,  Villa,  26,  37,  113,  121-1^3 

Peruzzi,    Baldassare,    42,    195,     196,    269, 

271,  28s 
Pescia,  385 
Pesellino.  64 

Pian  de'  Giullari,  26,  99-101,  1 13,  121 
Pico  della  Mirandola,  213,  345 
Piero  de'  Medici,  212 
Piero  di  Cosimo,  64 
Pitti,  Luca,  41;  Palace,  41 
Plan,  flexibility  of,  30 
Poccetti,  Bernardino,  237 
Poggio  a  Cajano,  40,  41,  44,  212,  223-225 
Poggio  Torselli,  45,  307-308 
Pontormo,  223 
Porta  San  Miniato,  99 


Quaracchi,  73 
Queen  Victoria,  346 

R 

Raphael,  39,  40 

Romans,  23 

Roofs,  27,  41,  47 

Rooms,  arrangement  of,  30 

Rucellai,  Bernardo,  73;  family,  223 

Rusciano,  Villa,  41 


Sola,  30 

Salone,  48 

Salviati,  Maria,  205;  Palazzo,  20; 

San  Casciano,  26,  81,  307 

San  Domenico,  26 

Sangallo,  Antonio  da,  39;   Battista  da,  39; 

Giuliano  da,  40,  81,  223 
San  Lorenzo,  cloisters  of,  78 
Santi  di  Tito,  253 
Sassetti,  family,  323 
Scuderie,  27 

Sedia,  Dantesca,  64;  Savonarola,  64 
Serlio.  77 
Sesto,  45,  79,  399 
Sgabello,  64 

Siena,  10,  40,  42,  285,  368 
Sienese  villas,  41 
Solosmei,  family,  344 
Spalliera,  60,  61 


Spedalc  della  Santissima  Trinita,  113 
Staircase  30,  43,  44,  47,  48 
Stefano  d'Ugolino,   223 
Strozzi,  family,  223 
Stucco  decoration,  47.  49 
Symonds,  John  Addington,  65 


Tapestries,  62 

Tiles,  41,  47;  maiolica,  63 

Timbers,  33 

Topiary  work,  77 

Tornabuoni,    Giovanna,    Si;    Lorenzo,  61; 

Lucrezia,  212 
Torre  del  Gallo,  99 
Torricelli,  Evangelista,  100 
Towers,  24 

Trebbfo,  II,  24,  26,  205-206 
Treillage,  77 
Turamini.  famil)',  269 
Tuscan,  landscape,  8;  villas,   influence  of, 

38;  superstitions,  56 
Tuscany,  7,  27,  41 

V 

Vacchia,  della,  family,  121 

Val  di  Pesa,  26 

Varro,  73 

Vasarl,  Giorgio,  223,  253 

V'aulting,  33,  34,  49;  barrel,  43.  56 

Vespigiano,  214 

Vicobello,  42,  285-286 

Villa,  arrangement  of,  36;  concentration  of, 
27;  for  defense,  35;  design,  41;  fabric  of, 
29.  genesis  of,  23;  life  in,  28,  35;  meaning 
of,  8;  plan  of.  26,  27,  42,  48;  purpose  of, 
37;  Renaissance,  24;  Roman,  38,  39; 
Tuscan,  39 

Villetta,  The,  26,  37,  177.180 

W 

VVal's,  33;  colour  of,  29,  46,  56;  decoration 
of,  44,  56,  61,  65;  designs,  59;  em- 
broidered coverings,  44;  e.xterior  decor- 
ation, 47;  geometrical  pattefas,  56; 
fabric-hung,  50,  62;  landscapes,  60; 
painted,  59;  panelled,  47;  stuccoed,  46.49 

Window  seats,  33 


Zuccheri,  Federigo,  399 


L  007  486  074  3 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


D    000  809  219    9 


